MSU (25-11 overall) defeated Virginia (30-4 overall) in front a pro-Cavalier crowd in Charlotte, NC on Sunday afternoon, 60-54.

"I can't tell you how proud and excited I am for these guys. Especially the seniors, juniors, the guys that have been through a lot," head coach Tom Izzo said. "(I'm) excited for them and looking forward to moving on."

It was the Travis Trice show early on. 

The senior said former Spartan star and current Golden State Warriors forward, Draymond Green texted him, "Don't let this be your last game." Trice responded, "It won't." 

MSU’s co-captain and starting shooting guard put on a scoring clinic in the first five minutes, scoring 13 points on perfect shooting from the field.

"My teammates did a great job of getting me open looks," Trice said. "I got a dunk and then I got a layup and then Denzel hit me with a great pass on the three, they did a great job of finding me early on." 

Trice would cool down from there, not tallying another point until there were seven minutes remaining in the second half, but his 13 points were still enough to lead both teams in the opening twenty minutes.

Trice finished with 23 points, three assists and two rebounds. 

Darion Atkins didn’t give the Cavaliers their thirteenth point unit the 6:03 mark in the first half.

Atkins was UVA’s best player in the first half, leading the Cavaliers with eight rebounds and six points.

Atkins registered a double-double, totaling 10 points and 14 rebounds. 

The ACC defensive player of the year showed why he won the honor in the regular season, when he stuffed Alvin Ellis’ dunk attempt as he drove the lane in the first half.

Poor free throw shooting, defensive rebounding woes and turnovers kept Virginia in the game in the first half.

The Cavaliers had eight offensive rebounds and forced MSU into five turnovers. To make matters worse, MSU shot 33% from the free throw line.

MSU’s offense looked more fluid in the opening minutes of the second half, connecting on three of their first six shots.

"When you have trust in coach and the things that he tells us to do, then that's when things fall into place," Branden Dawson said.

Dawson, like he did against Georgia, spearheaded the attack in the final twenty minutes.

"He's a very complete player," Virginia's junior forward Justin Anderson said. "He's a tough player, we knew the challenge he presented: his ability to rebound, pound on the inside and (make) tough fadeaway jumpers." 

Dawson had 10 points and six rebounds in the second half. He totaled 15 points on 5 of 9 shooting and added nine rebounds. 

From there, the referees took over the game, calling a combined 28 fouls in the game. 

In such a tightly contested game, free throws made the difference coming down the stretch.

The teams shot a combined 59 free throws, UVA shot almost ten percent better at the charity stripe than MSU, but the Spartans attempted seven more shots, making two of those. 

MSU’s execution in the half court offense was enough to keep UVA at bay as the Spartans never let the Cavaliers taste the lead. 

"When we did get the open looks we didn't capitalize," UVA head coach Tony Bennett said after his team shot 29% from the field. 

Coach Izzo said he used the late game collapse in the Big Ten championship against Wisconsin as a teaching tool, which helped them close the door in the third round of the NCAA Tournament.

"That's the advantage of playing in championship-level games, because they hurt a little more, you remember them a little bit more," Izzo said.

The Spartans will face the winner of Dayton and Oklahoma in the Sweet Sixteen round next week. 

"They're playing good ball right now, they're very tough," Bennett said. 

MSU may have knocked off the two seed in the East region but they aren't letting that chip come off their shoulder just yet.

"I think coming (into) this tournament being a 7 seed it's definitely us against the world type of mentality for all of us," Dawson said. "We keep playing the way we're playing, we'll definitely make a good run."