For just the second time under hall of fame head coach Tom Izzo, a graduating class of seniors who played the entirety of their college career in East Lansing have not reached a Final Four. Michigan State couldn't sustain a strong first half stretch in its bid to upset No. 1-seeded North Carolina to punch its ticket to a second-straight Sweet Sixteen appearance.
The Spartans lost 85-69 in the Round of 32 matchup, marking a fifth-straight loss to a No. 1-sseded Tar Heels squad under Izzo.
In his final game as a Spartan, Tyson Walker led all scorers on the day with 24 points, also pacing MSU with two steals. Malik Hall also turned in a strong performance in his last game in the green-and-white, scoring 17 points and fell just shy of a double-double, leading the team on the glass with nine rebounds and a block.
Jaden Akins also scored in double-figures, finishing with 11 points before fouling out. A.J. Hoggard scored just three points, going 1-for-10 from the field, while leading the team with four assists.
RJ Davis led the Tar Heels in scoring with 20, while three other players finished in double-figures for UNC. This game was primarily the starters for both teams, though, as the benches combined for just 24 points of the 154 points scored by both teams.
The Spartans got off to a strong start against the Tar Heels, looking every bit the preseason top-five team fans had hoped for this season. While MSU led narrowly, 8-5, at the first media timeout, a 5-0 run ensued for MSU following the first break to push the lead out to 13-5.
While UNC's Davis snapped the run for MSU with a jumper, a trey by Hoggard following a 1-of-2 score from the charity strip by Hall meant Michigan State led by double-digits, up 17-7 with 12:50 left in the first half. UNC finally snapped out of it from there and closed out with a 5-0 run of its own to head into the second media timeout, trailing MSU 17-12 with 11:20 left.
The second media break marked the high-water mark for MSU's offense in the first half as the Spartans engine flamed-out until the buzzer. The Tar Heels kicked off a 23-3 run coming out of the break, seizing the lead back for good while the Spartans' offense faltered. At the half, MSU trailed 40-31.
Michigan State rallied coming out of the locker room, mounting a 15-5 run to pull within two. With 15:58 remaining in the game, the Spartans trailed just 48-46 thanks to an Akins and-one when he sunk the extra point following the first media break.
The Spartans managed to keep it close through the next stretch, though the Tar Heels rallied with a 7-2 run of their own before Xavier Booker drained a trey to make it 55-51 with 12:15 remaining.
A missed try by Cormac Ryan for UNC and a blocked Hoggard layup attempt followed before a shooting foul by Tre Holloman against Cormac brought on the next media break. MSU trailed by just four with 11:46 left.
From there, Michigan State managed to cut its deficit to four just one more time, down 57-53 with 10:38 remaining. A 12-2 run by North Carolina soon followed and the rout was on. MSU played the remainder of the game out, but the body language suggested this one was all but over by the final media break with over six minutes left to play.
Michigan State finishes the season 20-15 overall with an exit from its 26th straight NCAA Tournament in the Round of 32 following the loss while North Carolina will advance to the Regional Semi-Finals in Los Angeles, California next.
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