Preview: Louisville Takes On Michigan State in Second Round of NCAA Tournament

NCAA Tournament Second Round | No. 3 Michigan State Spartans (26-7, 15-5 Big 10) vs. No. 6 Louisville Cardinals (24-10, 11-7 ACC)

- Tipoff: Saturday, Mar. 21 at 2:45 p.m. EST
- Location: KeyBank Center in Buffalo, N.Y.
- How To Watch: CBS
- How To Listen: 93.9 FM
- Betting Favorite: Michigan State -4.5
- All-Time Series: Series Tied 6-6
- Last Meeting: Michigan State won 73-64 on Dec. 1, 2022 (East Lansing, Mich.)

Projected Starting Lineups

Louisville

G Adrian Wooley (6-4, 200, So.)
G Isaac McKneely (6-4, 195, Sr.)
G Ryan Conwell (6-4, 215, Sr.)
F J'Vonne Hadley (6-7, 210, 6th)
F/C Vangelis Zougris (6-8, 240, Jr.)

Michigan State

G Jeremy Fears Jr. (6-2, 190, R-So.)
F Jordan Scott (6-8, 200, Fr.)
F Coen Carr (6-6, 230, Jr.)
F Jaxon Kohler (6-10, 245, Sr.)
C Carson Cooper (6-11, 245, Sr.)

Comparison

See how the Cardinals stack up against the Spartans, and who the statistical models favor: Tale of The Tape, Predictions: Louisville vs. Michigan State

Additional Coverage

Game Notes

Louisville Cardinals

The Cardinals are 61-42 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, not including a 15-3 record vacated by the NCAA Committee on Infractions.
Louisville is now 7-3 all-time as a 6 seed and is 4-1 against 3-seeds.
Senior guard Ryan Conwell was named Second Team All-ACC while freshman Mikel Brown Jr. was named Third Team All-ACC and tapped to the All-Rookie Team.
Freshman guard Mikel Brown Jr. tied Louisville's single-game scoring record with 45 points against NC State on Feb. 9. He tied the legendary Wes Unseld who was the lone owner of the record since Dec. 1, 1967. Brown also broke the ACC freshman single game scoring record, previously set by Cooper Flagg at 42 points.
Louisville had two 30-point scorers in one game for the first time in program history as Mikel Brown Jr. scored 45 and Ryan Conwell scored 31 against NC State on Feb. 9. UofL is one of four teams in DI this season to have a game with two 31+ point scorers, as of March 15. The duo became the first pair of ACC players to drop 30+ each against another ACC team since Marcus Paige and Brice Johnson of UNC did it at Florida State on Jan. 4, 2016.
According to OptaSTATS, Mikel Brown Jr. and Ryan Conwell are the only DI teammate duo in the last 30 seasons to combine for 75+ points, 15+ rebounds and 15+ threes made in a game. Only one NBA duo has ever done it: Damian Lillard and Nassir Little during Lillard's 71-point game on Feb. 26, 2023.
Mikel Brown Jr. is the only DI player since at least 2010-11 to record 45 points, nine rebounds, two assists and three steals in 34 minutes or less in a single game. He did so against NC State on Feb. 9.
As of March 15, Louisville is one of three DI teams with at least six victories of 40 points or more this season, joining Michigan (7) and High Point (6). The six 40+ point wins are the most UofL has ever had in a single season.
As of March 15, Mikel Brown Jr. is one of 12 players in DI this season to score 45 points, and one of eight to do it in a regulation length game.
Louisville is one of four programs that has logged at least three games of 18+ made 3's as of March 15, joining Cornell (5 games), Charleston Southern (3) and VMI (3).
Louisville has had five games of at least 24 assists, the first time since 2010-11 that the program has had multiple games of 24+ assists; the Cardinals had five games of at 24+ assists that season. Louisville is one of 18 teams in 2025-26 as of March 15 to have five games or more of at least 24 assists. Louisville has had 11 games of 20+ assists, also one of 24 teams in the nation to do so.
Louisville shot 60% from the 3-point line against the Wolfpack on Feb. 9. It was the best the Cards have shot from the arc, since shooting 62.5% in an 82-74 victory over Florida State on March 8, 2018.

Michigan State Spartans

MSU advanced to the second round with a 92-67 win over North Dakota State on Thursday
Senior center Carson Cooper scored 20 points and had 10 rebounds to lead four players in double figures
This is the 12th time in the last 14 tournaments MSU has reached the second round and the 16th in the last 19
Since 1998, the Spartans are 16-5 in their second NCAA Tournament game
Michigan State is making its 28th straight trip to the NCAA Tournament under Coach Tom Izzo, extending the longest NCAA Tournament streak in Big Ten history
In being selected, Izzo also extended his NCAA record by coaching his team to 28 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances
Michigan State's streak of 28 straight NCAA Tournaments is not only a Big Ten record, it's also tied for the longest in NCAA history (Kansas, 28, 1990-2017) and is officially recognized by the NCAA as the nation's longest current streak
This is the 39th NCAA Tournament appearance all-time for MSU
MSU's captains (Carson Cooper, Jaxon Kohler, Coen Carr and Jeremy Fears Jr.) have combined for 64.0% of the team's scoring (1,676 of 2,618 points) and average 50.68 ppg, 23.9 rpg and 13.3 assists.
MSU is No. 11 in the NCAA Net Rankings and No. 9 per KenPom
Through 33 games, MSU has four players scoring in double figures and eight averaging at least 5.0 ppg
Jeremy Fears Jr., who leads the team with 32.2 minutes played, leads the team with 15.4 ppg and is handing out 9.2 assists per game, tops in the nation. His 305 total assists rank No. 2 in the country. When he handed out 13 in the Big Ten Tournament vs. UCLA, he moved past Cassius Winston (291, 2018-19) for the single-season record at Michigan State. He handed out 11 in the win over North Dakota State, becoming the first MSU player ever to hand out 300 or more assists in one season
Jaxon Kohler is second on the team in scoring with 12.6 ppg and tops the team with 9.0 rpg (3rd B1G, #33 nationally). Kohler ranks No. 28 nationally with 12 double-doubles this season & has scored in double figures 24 times. His 9.0 rebounds are the most since Xavier Tillman Sr. had 10.3 in 2019-20
Coen Carr, one of the most athletic players in all of college basketball, is third on the team with 11.7 ppg, third on the team with 5.3 rpg and 1.3 apg in 29.0 mpg
Carson Cooper, who had 16 points and a career-best 16 rebounds vs. Duke and tied his career high with 20 points against North Dakota State while adding 10 rebounds for his fourth double double, is playing a career-high 26.5 mpg, is fourth on the team with 11.0 ppg and second with 7.2 rpg, 10th in the B1G. He has scored in double figures 20 times
Jordan Scott is averaging 5.9 ppg and 3.1 rpg in 20.8 mpg (with 7.4 ppg and 2.9 rpg in 22.9 mpg in B1G play) and Cam Ward is averaging 5.3 ppg and is fourth on the team with 4.2 rpg
Kur Teng, who scored a career-high 18 points at Indiana, is averaging 7.5 ppg and 2.0 rpg, while senior guard Trey Fort is tallying 3.9 ppg in 10.1 mpg, redshirt freshman Jesse McCulloch is averaging 2.4 ppg and 1.3 rpg and senior guard Denham Wojcik averages 1.2 assists in 5.7 minutes
Divine Ugochukwu, out for the season with a left foot injury, averaged 5.1 ppg, 1.5 rpg and 1.6 apg in 16.9 mpg in 22 games.

NCAA Tournament Second Round | No. 3 Michigan State Spartans (26-7, 15-5 Big 10) vs. No. 6 Louisville Cardinals (24-10, 11-7 ACC)

Projected Starting Lineups

Comparison

Additional Coverage

Game Notes

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