The Big Dance has begun for Michigan State with a win over the Bryant University Bulldogs. After a shaky first half, the Spartans were able to complete the game with a 87-62 victory.

Other than stars on your roster and a hall of fame coach, what can carry a team into a deep run in March? What does the 'lose and you're done' aspect of the NCAA Tournament mean to the players?

"We know that there's not going to be a (guaranteed) next game," said Coen Carr. "I'm just trying to play for my guys, my seniors that don't have another year. I'm just trying for that."

Carr, a sophomore forward, had himself a standout performance on Friday night. He secured a career high 18 points and 9 rebounds. His electrifying energy helped the Spartans finish on top in the second half.

For Carr, there wasn't any other option in his mind.

"It means a lot," said Carr. "We've been saying all week that this first game is the hardest. I just made I up that wasn't gonna let my team lose today. So I just try to play as hard as I can, try to get (the) rebounds I can, and just make the most of my opportunities out there."

Jaxon Kohler shared some insight into his own philosophy into tournament style play.

"If you lose, you're done," stated Kohler. "Honestly for me, it's best to just simplify as much as possible. If you start to put all these factors into play ... it's all this extra pressure. For me, I could just work with, it's another five on five game. All the 'where we are', 'what time it is', 'what tournament this is', all that stuff is mostly details that don't really matter. You're just playing five on five, and you want to win. Because if you win, if you focus on winning in the moment, everything takes care of itself. My mentality is just like it's another five on five game and you want to beat the team in front of you."

Making his March Madness debut, freshman Jase Richardson had a unique perspective of his first game in the big dance.

"Rough first half experience," shared Richardson. "Not the experience I wanted to have. But second half, your team is flowing, shots are falling, everybody's happy, everybody's smiling. You got Nick Sanders coming off the bench, getting a bucket himself. So those are the type of moments you want to have and remember during the tournament."