Michigan State defeats Marquette 69-60 to advance to Sweet 16

Michigan State came into Sunday’s Round of 32 matchup with Marquette looking to return to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2019 and managed to do just that. The Spartans downed the Golden Eagles 69-60 to give head coach Tom Izzo his 16th upset win in the NCAA tournament, besting now former Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim for the most by any head coach in the NCAA Tournament. Izzo also improves to 15-4 all-time in the Round of 32.

Michigan State will advance to the Eastern Regional Semi-Final in New York City on Thursday for the 15th time in the last 25 tournaments, the second most of any team. MSU will take on No. 3-seed Kansas State at Madison Square Garden with tip off time to be determined later.

Tyson Walker led Michigan State with 23 points on 8-of-17 shooting, while Joey Hauser finished with a double-double, scoring 14 points and grabbing 10 boards.

A.J. Hoggard added 13 points alongside a team-high five assists. Mady Sissoko matched Hauser’s 10 rebounds for the team-high, and Malik Hall had five boards alongside a team-high three steals.

Olivier-Maxense Prosper led Marquette with 16 points while Tyler Kolek was held to just seven points, the Big East Player of the Year's lowest total since scoring seven at Seton Hall on Jan. 21.

Michigan State quickly shrugged off its opening possession in which Stevie Mitchell stripped Hoggard and drove it down for an easy layup on the fast break and jumped out to a nine-point lead by the 16:07 mark. The Spartans mounted an 11-0 run during that stretch and later extended the lead out to 18-5 at the peak.

Between stifling MSU defense and early foul trouble that saw Kolek sent to the bench for the Golden Eagles early on after he picked up a second personal foul with 14:39 to play, the Spartans had as great of a start as fans could have hoped for. Michigan State wasn’t able to push its lead out more than 10-12 points during its dominating run early in the half, though. Still, Jaden Akins did get in on the fun with a highlight slam with 9:12 remaining.

Carson Cooper did as well as the Golden Eagles started to bring a full court press for the final half of the first half.

Marquette was able to dig in and prevent the game from getting out of reach, especially when Hoggard was sent to the bench with a second foul with 5:23 remaining and Kolek came back in for MU. In fact, while the officiating was not the frustrating product Big Ten fans have had to often endure this season, it was an interesting contrast that the Spartans were called for six fouls in a 2:50 time span in the final seven minutes of the game, while the Golden Eagles were not called for a single foul in the final 9:12 of the half.

During that final stretch with Hoggard on the bench, Marquette was able to cut the MSU lead to just three with :56 remaining, trailing 31-28. A jumper by Akins brought it to 33-28 with :37 left and that is where it would remain heading into the locker room at the half.

Kolek was held to a single point in the first half, while Joey Hauser finished the half with seven points and seven rebounds and Tyson Walker added six points. MSU struggled from deep, going just 1-of-10 from 3-point range while giving up nine points to MU off seven turnovers.

The Spartans also held the Golden Eagles to 4-of-11 from deep and just 37.5% shooting from the field overall in the first half, dominating the paint advantage with 18 points to MU’s eight.

Marquette came out hot from the locker room, mounting an 8-0 run to take its largest lead of the game, up 36-33 with 17:49 to go. The Spartans tied it back up thanks to a layup and an and-one by Hoggard, but the teams tied it up or traded the lead five more times until MSU was able to retake the lead for good on a jumper by Walker with 8:52 remaining.

The tide turned briefly in the Spartans' favor in terms of momentum at that point as Prosper was called for a flagrant one foul after he hooked Hauser around the throat trying to battle through a screen. Hauser hit both shots and then Walker drew a foul on Sean Jones to hit his own two free throws to push MSU's lead out to 48-42.

The Golden Eagles fought to keep it close and were able to make it a one point game after Oso Oghodaro dunked it with 5:04 left to bring it to 52-51. Less than a minute later, Hauser drained a trey to make it 56-51 Michigan State.

MU just wouldn't quit, hitting its own trey thanks to Kam Jones and a free throw soon thereafter by Prosper once again brought it to 56-55, MSU. The Golden Eagles couldn't find an answer for Tyson Walker after that as the guard for the Spartans went on to score nine of the final 18 points in the game, including his first ever dunk in a game highlighted below.

As the Spartans came up with big plays on defense, like a block by Mady Sissoko, and Walker lit up the boards on the offense end, the Golden Eagles were forced to turn to fouls in the final moments to little avail. MSU hung on for the win 69-60.

Michigan State finished the game scoring just 2-of-16 from 3-point range for an abysmal 12.5%. MSU used the paint to dominate with a 32-16 advantage and scored 15 second-chance points thanks to 10 offensive rebounds, while the Spartans limited MU to eight second-chance points on nine offensive boards.

The Spartans finished the game with 19 points off 16 Golden Eagles' turnovers and held Marquette to just 38.5% shooting from the field on defense, well below the MU's average of 48.8.

Michigan State improves to 21-12 on the season and to 33-23 all-time against Marquette.

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