No. 2-seeded Michigan State was expected to have a tough and hard-fighting No. 15 Bryant team on its hands for the Round of 64 matchup opening play in the NCAA Tournament. Just as predicted, the Bulldogs kept it close and fought hard through much of the game but couldn't find answers for the Spartans depth down the stretch as MSU pulled away for a 87-62 win.
The Spartans advance to take on No. 10 New Mexico on Sunday in the Round of 32 matchup. The Lobos upset No. 7 Marquette 75-66 in the game prior to MSU in Cleveland. Start time is set for 8:40 p.m. Eastern Time on TNT.
Coen Carr led the Spartans in scoring with a career-high 18 points on 7-for-10 shooting from the field and 4-for-5 from the free throw line. The sophomore fell just shy of a double-double with nine rebounds, tied for the team high on the game, to go with two assists and a block.
Four other players for MSU finished in double figures scoring with Jase Richardson adding 15 points, Tre Holloman scoring 14, and Jeremy Fears Jr. and Jaden Akins both scoring 11 apiece. Fears added six assists to pace the team in helpers while Akins led in steals with two. Jaxon Kohler tied Carr with nine boards for the team high in rebounds. Richardson went 3-for-4 from 3-point range as well.
Rafael Pinzon led all scorers on the night with 21 points for Bryant. Earl Timberlake added 14 points for Bulldogs in double figures.
Michigan State got off to a slow start to open play, falling behind 5-0 as the game started and going just 2-for-7 from the field by the first media timeout with the Spartans trailing 7-6. Coming back from the break, Holloman quickly gave MSU its first lead of the game thanks to a trey, boosting the Spartans briefly to a 10-7 advantage.
The size of Bryant caused MSU trouble in the first half, though, and the game stayed close throughout. The Bulldogs would find an answer for just about every score from the Spartans and MSU held a narrow 14-12 lead by the U12 media break with 11:25 remaining in the half. Coming back from the break started the Carr highlight reel for dunks as well.
The Bulldogs made a 7-3 run to take a four-point lead coming out of the break, but a tough drive with a strong finish by Richardson swing it back toward MSU's favor.
Just a few moments later, Earl Timberlake would have to leave the game for Bryant after a tussle with Cooper for a loose ball resulted in a small gash in his forehead, naturally resulting in profuse bleeding from the head wound. The injury resulted in a media timeout with 7:19 left in the game and resulted in a common foul against Cooper after review by the officials.
Carr would go one to score MSU's next eight points before Fidler and Richardson snapped his scoring streak.
Carr's scoring streak also saw Bryant's final lead of the game vanish at the 4:06 mark and the Bulldogs were never able to tie or lead again from there on out. Late scores, including a trey by Richardson, helped give the Spartans some momentum heading into the locker room at the half.
But ultimately Carr was the star of the show for the Spartans.
In just one half, Carr scored 15 points on 6-for7 shooting from the field and a perfect 3-for-3 from the free throw line. Richardson was the next closest with five points on the half.
MSU ended the first half with seven turnovers that resulted in eight points for Bryant. Poor shooting, going just 12-for-29 from the field overall with half of those baskets being by Carr, hampered the Spartans early. Despite the Bulldogs wanting to push the pace versus the Spartans, Bryant scored zero points off the fast break in the first half to MSU's nine.
Timberlake led Bryant with eight points despite his absence for the cut around the midpoint of the half.
Michigan State led Bryant 33-28 at the break.
The momentum didn't stop coming out of the locker room for MSU. Back-to-back treys by the Spartans from Akins and Fears gave them a nine-point lead that forced a timeout from the Bulldogs just 2.5 minutes into the half.
Carr managed to notched his career high with 16:40 left in the game but would not score again.
Bryant kept finding an answer anytime Michigan State tried to put the game out of reach with a run, but the Spartans never let it get close, either. After the Bulldogs trimmed their deficit to just seven with 13:50 remaining, the Spartans pushed it back out to double digits for good with 10:54 left on a trey from Holloman.
By the time just over 5.5 minutes remained, the game was all but over as the Spartans opened a 20-point lead from another trey by Holloman. The finishing stretch was just a chance for some highlights by players.
Michigan State advances to give head coach Tom Izzo his 57th NCAA Tournament win and improves his record to 21-5 in the Round of 64 with a goal of winning number 58 and reaching the program's first Sweet 16 berth since 2023. The Lobos currently sit in the way on Sunday.
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