NCAA Tournament Preview: 15-seed Bryant (23-11, 14-2) vs. 2-seed Michigan State (27-6, 17-3) Friday, Mar. 21, approximately 10:00 pm, TBS​

The MSU Spartans will take on the Bryant Bulldogs in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Bryant, at a quick glance:

- Earl Timberlake and several teammates transferred from larger programs to Bryant.

- Bryant boasts a strong track record, setting a program record for wins and earning a second NCAA Tournament bid in four years.

- Coach Phil Martelli Jr. emphasizes a possession-by-possession approach, focusing on transition defense, rebounding, and offensive execution.

Timberlake on the team's confidence:

"That's the beauty of playing AAU basketball," Timberlake said. "We've seen everybody. Everybody who's at big schools, we've seen them."

Timberlake played for Team Durant and had former teammates in Jalen Duren, now of the Detroit Pistons, and Lester Quiñones, of the New Orleans Pelicans, who have already made their professional debuts.

Timberlake was also on a Memphis team with Emoni Bates of the Cleveland Cavs.

Before we discuss Phil Martelli Jr., let's discuss his dad, Phil Sr., who is a close friend of Tom Izzo.

Phil Sr. (446–330 college record) spent time with Michigan as an assistant after 30+ years at St Joseph's, including 24 as head coach. So Phil Jr. has good bloodlines. Tom Izzo called Phil Jr. to congratulate him on a great season before they played in their conference championship game before knowing they would be playing each other in the NCAA tournament.

Phil Martelli, Jr. joined the Bryant staff in April 2018 as an assistant coach and was promoted to Associate Head Coach in August 2020.

Martelli has helped Bryant become one of the top mid-majors in the country. In 2022, he won the NEC Regular Season and Tournament titles and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time.

In his two years as the head coach at Bryant, he has a record of 43-24. In his first season, Martelli won 20 games and defeated No. 10 FAU in Boca Raton, the first-ever victory over a top-10 team.

Martelli was named a finalist for the Hugh Durham National Mid-Major Coach of the Year and the Joe B. Hall Award (top first-year coach). The 20 wins were the most by a first-year Bryant coach since 1968-69 and the fifth-most of any first-year coach nationally.

Bryant is usually among the nation's best in blocks, field goal percentage defense, rebounding margin, and three-point percentage defense. Last year, they featured two All-America East First Team selections, including Earl Timberlake, while transfer Rafael Pinzon enjoyed a career year.

Martelli spent time at Saint Joseph's as the director of program administration. He has coached in the NBA G-League at the University of Delaware, where he helped the Blue Hens to an NCAA tournament appearance in 2014. At Niagara, he helped the Purple Eagles to a 95-69 record in his five-year stint. He was at Manhattan in 2005-06. He began his career in 2003 at Central Connecticut as the youngest (22) full-time assistant coach in Division I.A 2003 alum of Saint Joseph's, Martelli was a four-year player for the Hawks and a member of the teams that made NCAA Tournament appearances in 2001 and 2003.

Rafael Pinzon is a 6'6", 195-pound transfer guard from St. Johns. Originally from Arecibo, Puerto Rico, he played high school ball at Long Island Lutheran. He was a three-star recruit and the No. 4 recruit in New York State. He played for Puerto Rico at the 2021 FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup in Latvia, averaging 16.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 4.4 assists.

For Bryant last year, he was Bryant's sixth man and averaged 13.0 points per game, 3.1 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per game. Before that, he was at St John's as a sophomore and averaged 6.1 points and 1.9 rebounds per game. This year, for Bryant, he averaged 18.5 points (42.1 FG%) and three rebounds. He shoots 38.5% from three-point land and 88.5% from the free-throw line. He has a 65 assists to 73 turnovers ratio with 30 steals.

Earl Timberlake is a 6'6", 220-pound transfer guard from Memphis two years removed. Originally from Washington, D.C., he played his high school ball at DeMatha Catholic. Timberlake was a 4-star, top-40 recruit and McDonald's All-American nominee who averaged 16.5 points, 10.0 rebounds, and 4.0 assists. In college, he spent his freshman year in Miami and sophomore year in Memphis.

Last season was spent at Bryant, where he averaged 14.6 points per game, 9.0 rebounds, and 3.9 assists. This year, he averages 15.5 (50.3 FG%) and 8.2 rebounds for Bryant. He shoots 36% from three-point land and 71.9% and has an excellent 150 assists to 78 turnovers, with 33 steals and 57 blocks on the year.

Barry Evans is a 6'8", 215-pound transfer forward from St. Bonaventure. Originally from Baltimore, Maryland, he played his high school ball at Oakland Mills and Baltimore Poly and helped key a national prep championship with Putnam Science Academy. He spent the previous two seasons at St. Bonaventure, where he played in 65 games.

This year, Evans averages 13.5 points (47.7 FG%) and 6.9 rebounds. He shoots 37.3% from three-point land and 65.8% from the free throw line, and he has an 85 assists and 68 turnovers ratio with 44 steals and 18 blocks for the year.

Conner Withers is a 6'8", 200-pound forward from Manassas, Virginia, who played his high school ball at Osbourn, where he was team captain and led his team to back-to-back district championships, averaging 16.3 points and 8.0 rebounds. In his first collegiate year he played at UMass Lowell, where he appeared in 27 games and averaged 4.1 points and 2.6 rebounds.

This season, Wither averages 11.3 points (37.9 FG%) and 5.6 rebounds, shoots 33.2% from three-point land and 82.7% from the free throw line. He has 114 assists to 67 turnovers ratio with 56 steals and 49 blocks in the year.

Keyshawn Mitchell is a 6'11", 215-pound forward from Brooklyn, New York, who played his high school ball at First Love Christian Academy. Mitchell was a McDonald's All-American Game nominee in 2022 as a senior at Capital Prep in Connecticut. He played 17 games as a true freshman.

This year, for Bryant, he averages 8.6 points (53.2 FG%) and 6.9 rebounds. He shoots 32.1% from three-point land and 57.5% from the free-throw line. He has a 22 assists to 36 turnovers ratio with 13 steals and 26 blocks on the year.

Kvonn Cramer is a 6'7", 225-pound forward from Wilmington, Delaware. He played at Mount Pleasant High School in Wilmington and missed the last two seasons due to injury. However, as a sophomore, Cramer averaged 18 points, eight rebounds, four assists and 12 points, six rebounds, and two assists as a freshman. He spent his sophomore year at Hofstra, averaging 5.1 points per game.

Last season, he was injured at Bryant, but the previous year, he averaged 6.1 points per game, 3.8 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks in his first year for the Bulldogs. This season, he averaged 7.8 points (59.3 FG%) and 4.5 rebounds per game. He shoots 33.3% from three-point land and 62.8% from the free-throw line. He has 20 assists to 28 turnovers with 21 steals and 34 blocks for the year.

Jakai Robinson is a 6'5", 208-pound guard from Ossining, New York. He played his prep ball at Rock Creek Christian Academy in Maryland and transferred in from Miami. In high school, he averaged 19.0 points and 8.0 rebounds per game as a senior and was a Consensus four-star, top-100 prospect labeled the third-best recruit in Maryland by Rivals. Robinson was listed as the overall No. 96 recruit, including No. 19 among small forwards, by Rivals. A year ago, he played 17 games for the Miami Hurricanes.

This year for Bryant he averaged 5.9 points (48.1 FG%) and 3.5 rebounds. He shoots 17.4% from three-point land and 71.6% from the free-throw line. He has a 28 assists to 25 turnovers ratio with 18 steals and seven blocks for the year.

Aaron Davis is a 6'7", 215-pound guard from Bayshore, New York. He played his high school ball at First Love Christina Academy in Pennsylvania. Last year, Davis appeared in just six games. This season for Bryant, he averages 5.3 points (39.7 FG%) and 1.2 rebounds. He shoots 24.3% from three-point range and 83.3% from the free-throw line. He has a three-assists to three-turnovers ratio with two steals and five blocks.

Kam Farris is a 6'3", 175-pound guard from Burlington, Vermont, who played his prep ball first at Rice Memorial and then at Redemption Christian Academy. He averaged 22.7 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 2.5 assists in 2017-18 at Rice Memorial and was named the 2018 Gatorade Player of the Year for the State of Vermont. Farris is on his third college team, playing first at Robert Morris before transferring to Marist. A year ago at Marist, he averaged 4.8 points per game, 1.0 rebounds, and 0.8 assists per game, where he shot 40 percent from three (22-54) and 83 percent from the line.

Points Per Game

Bryant: 82.4 Opponents: 73.9

Scoring Margin +8.5

Shooting

FG: Percentage Bryant: .460 Opponents: .416

FG: Per Game Bryant: 30.2 Opponents: 26.6

3PT: Percentage Bryant: .337 Opponents: .324

3PT: Per Game Bryant: 7.8 Opponents: 7.3

FT: Percentage Bryant: .717 Opponents: .718

FT: Per Game Bryant: 14.1 Opponents: 13.3

Rebounding Per Game

Bryant: 41.5 Opponents: 36.1

Assists Per Game

Bryant: 15.0 Opponents: 11.4

Turnovers Per Game

Bryant: 12.0 Opponents: 12.1

Assist/Turnover Ratio

Bryant: 1.2 Opponents: 0.9

Points Off Turnovers

Bryant: 14.0 Opponents: 12.2

Steals Per Game

Bryant: 6.7 Opponents: 6.7

Blocks Per Game

Bryant: 6.0 Opponents: 2.4