Spartans Eventually Find Their Footing, Cruise to 87-62 Victory Over Bryant
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- It took a little while, but once Michigan State got to its brand of basketball in its Round of 64 matchup with Bryant on Friday, it never really looked back.
The No. 2-seeded Spartans found themselves up by just 5 at halftime but would ultimately conquer the No. 15-seeded Bulldogs, 87-62, in a predominantly Spartan-filled crowd at Rocket Arena.
Michigan State dominated Bryant on the boards, outrebounding the Bulldogs, 54-29. The Spartans also found success from beyond the arc, knocking down 10 3-pointers.
It was a career game for Spartan sophomore forward Coen Carr, who turned in a career-high 18 points while grabbing a career-high nine boards as well. Freshman guard Jase Richardson finished closely behind in the scoring column with 15 points, and right behind him was junior guard Tre Holloman with 14.
Spartan redshirt freshman guard Jeremy Fears Jr. and senior guard Jaden Akins each added 11.
Bryant, meanwhile, was led by its leading scorer on the year, senior guard Rafael Pinzon, who finished the contest with a game-high 21 points.
The Spartans started off slow while the Bulldogs jumped out to an early 5-0 advantage.
Michigan State wouldn’t make a field goal until a little more than 3 minutes had passed when Akins drained one from deep.
The Spartans didn’t even take their first lead until Holloman put one in from range at the 14:11 mark of the first half.
For a little while, the game stayed within a possession. That was until Pinzon drilled a triple to put the Bulldogs back up 4 with 9:16 to go before the break.
Things weren’t looking great for the Spartans. After Richardson responded with an and-1 opportunity, he would miss the free throw, marking what was already the fifth missed try from the charity stripe for Michigan State.
The Spartans needed a spark. That’s when Coen Carr happened.
The young forward would score Michigan State’s next 9 points, including 3 on a converted and-1 that would put the Spartans up, 26-24 with just over 4 minutes to play before halftime.
Carr’s scoring burst served as the bulk of a 16-5 run by Michigan State, which was capped off by a 3-pointer from Richardson, which gave the Spartans a 7-point lead, their largest lead of the game until that point, with 2:17 remaining in the half.
Michigan State would eventually take a 33-28 lead into the locker room. Carr led all Spartans at the break with 15 points.
It didn't take long for the Spartans to start creating significant separation, as back-to-back triples from Akins and Fears would put Michigan State up by 9 with just under 2-and-a-half minutes gone in the half.
Bryant wasn't going to go away, though, as fifth-year forward Earl Timberlake would convert an and-1 to make it a two-possession game again with 15:07 to play.
That didn't last long, though, as Richardson would answer with a bucket from downtown and added another one shortly after to put his team up double digits.
Roughly 2 minutes later, Holloman would drain one from deep. He would make two more the rest of the way -- the last gave Michigan State a 20-point advantage with less than 6 minutes to go.
The Spartans cruised to the finish line and, as a result, advance to the Round of 32, where they will face No. 10-seeded New Mexico back at Rocket Arena on Sunday at 8:40 p.m.
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