For about 30 minutes of action on Friday night, it appeared as if the Michigan State Spartans, the 2-seed in the South Region, weren’t prepared for the challenge that the Bryant Bulldogs were ready to provide in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. Sparty led by just 5 points at halftime and only managed to push the lead to 11 points in the opening 10 minutes of the 2nd half. But over the final 10 minutes of the game, Michigan State outscored Bryant 30-16, and they secured an 87-62 win.
That’s one challenge down, but five remain if Tom Izzo and the Spartans plan on bringing a National Championship back to East Lansing for the first time in a quarter-century. And the next one, head coach Richard Pitino and the 10-seed New Mexico Lobos, is one that Izzo knows that Sparty can’t afford to sleep on.
“It’s been a long time since the Minnesota days, but Pitino’s done a hell of a job there,” Izzo told Jon Rothstein after the win on Friday night. “I mean what he’s done in the last two years, they beat some teams that beat us in USC and UCLA. I’ve watched them a little bit, but I’ve watched these guys a lot. So tonight’s when you get to work again. So you get to work tonight, and that’s all good.”
During his seven year tenure as the head coach of the Minnesota Golden Gophers, Richard Pitino did guide his team to three wins in 11 games versus Tom Izzo and the Spartans. But the team he’s got down in Albuquerque poses a much bigger threat to Sparty than any squad he coached up in the Twin Cities.
Despite a slight crowd disadvantage and a 1,600 mile trip from Albuquerque to Cleveland, the Lobos didn’t blink even in the tightest moments of Friday night’s game against the Marquette Golden Eagles. Behind a combined 40 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists from their pair of All-Mountain West performers — Donovan Dent and Nelly Junior Joseph — the Lobos came away with a 75-66 win over Marquette, advancing to the 2nd Round of the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 11 years.
With a win over Michigan State on Sunday night, the Lobos would advance to their first Sweet Sixteen since the tournament field expanded to 64 teams in 1985. But that’s a difficult challenge in and of itself. Michigan State will be wide awake when they face New Mexico after receiving something of a wake up call against Bryant.
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