Different game, same story. Slow starts have been an issue for the Michigan State men's basketball team in the 2025 NCAA Tournament, but the resilient Spartans continue to find ways to come back and win.

On Friday night in the Sweet 16 round, Michigan State found itself down by 10 points against Mississippi at 29-19 with less than four minutes remaining to play in the first half before a 12-4 run closed the gap and the Rebels had just a two-point advantage at halftime, 33-31.

Eventually No. 2 seed Michigan State did what it has done many times throughout the 2024-2025 season, and surged in the second half to secure a 73-70 victory over No. 6 seed Ole Miss and advance to head coach Tom Izzo's 11th career Elite Eight appearance.

Ole Miss led for 30-minutes-and-30-seconds of the total 40 minutes of gameplay, but MSU stepped up when it mattered most and won the game.

A big reason why the Spartans are advancing once again in the tournament is due to the play of junior guard and team captain Tre Holloman.

Holloman finished the game with 10 points, three assists and one rebound. While his 2-for-7 shooting night may not look pretty on paper, his 6-for-6 effort at the free-throw line - including making four-straight free throws in the final 11 seconds of the game to seal the victory - helped propel Michigan State to the Elite Eight.

"Make it," Holloman said when asked about what was going through his mind during the free throws at the end of the game. "I gotta make it. I gotta do this for my team. Being the captain, I want the ball in my hands to make the last free throws. Shout out to my teammates for giving it to me."

Holloman noted the first free throw he took late in the game "felt kind of short," but after he saw it go in, he was able to collect his thoughts, take his time and "breathe." He was able to make all four of the shots from the charity stripe in the closing seconds in crunch time.

The Rebels were a tough, hard-nosed team that gave the Spartans all they could handle. After the game, Izzo called Ole Miss "the toughest, most physical defensive team that we've played in years."

Holloman praised Mississippi's physicality and tenacity as well.

"They were being physical with it," Holloman said in the locker room after the win over Mississippi. "(The Rebels) pressure up. They pressure you and and they come over hard. They really rally to the ball."

While Michigan State fans have traveled well throughout the duration of the 2025 NCAA Tournament, and the Spartans had plenty of support in Atlanta on Friday, it was somewhat a different setting for the Spartans with many Ole Miss fans in the State Farm Arena to cheer on the Rebels. Compared to MSU's previous tournament location of Cleveland, Ohio in the first two rounds, which is only about a three-hour drive or so from East Lansing, Michigan, this appeared to be a tougher challenge in terms of opposing fans.

Holloman noted that the Spartans have dealt with hostile environments throughout the season, so a strong showing from Ole Miss fans didn't affect the Spartans too much. However, MSU struggled to take care of the ball early in the game.

"I mean, yeah, we done been in some tough places, arenas (previously), so it wasn't really phasing us," Holloman explained about the crowd noise. "We were just making mental mistakes and then just dumb (things) like turnovers that we don't usually make."

Holloman is referring to Michigan State's first-half turnover issues in which the Spartans gave the ball away seven times in the first 20 minutes of play. However, MSU only turned the ball over three times in the second half, which helped allow the team to complete the comeback effort.

"We were just sure with our passes, sure with our cuts," Holloman said about the difference in giveaways in the first half versus the second half.

He noted that the Spartans expected the Rebels to be physical and play tight, and were prepared for that, but that it was an even more difficult challenge than the team imagined.

"(We expected them to be physical and aggressive), but not that physical," Holloman remarked. "They were swiping at the ball, they were bumping us, being physical. Coach (Izzo) said it was gonna be physical, but I wasn't expecting that (level), but then I adjusted."

Ole Miss finished with just eight turnovers, four in each half, but the Spartans overcame the Rebels' ability to take care of the ball .