CLEVELAND – Michigan State knocked off No. 10 seed New Mexico in the second round of the NCAA Tournament to advance to the Sweet 16.
Much like during its first-round win over Bryant, Michigan State spent the early minutes playing from behind, even trailing Richard Pitino’s Lobos by double figures, 24-14, just over midway through the first half.
At the under-8 timeout, the Spartans were on a nearly six-minute field goal drought. That ended on the first possession after the timeout, as Jaden Akins got a dunk off a baseline cut.
That was all it took to wake up the Spartans. Coen Carr finished a couple of tough layups and New Mexico suffered its own field goal drought. By halftime, that 10-point deficit had vanished, and Michigan State trailed by just a pair, 31-29.
The second half began with Michigan State grabbing three offensive rebounds on the first possession to tie the game, and Pitino was forced to call timeout after a 6-0 run put his team down 35-31.
The Lobos had only made one field goal in the last nine minutes of the first half, and those struggles carried over into a scoreless three minutes to start the second half.
But after the timeout, New Mexico scored on three-straight possessions to go into the under-16 timeout tied at 37.
That burst was short-lived, though, as Michigan State came out with a 7-2 run to retake control.
New Mexico battled back to tie it at 51 around the 7-minute mark. That’s when Akins hit a triple as the shot clock expired, and then the Spartans followed up with a fast break and-1 to go up by six.
The game was virtually over at that point, as New Mexico never got back closer to five, and the Spartans cruised to a 71-63 victory.
This is Michigan State’s second Sweet 16 in three seasons. Now the Spartans will play No. 6 Ole Miss for a spot in the Elite 8.
