WATCH: Michigan State's Jaden Akins Speaks After Win Over UNM

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Michigan State depended on its veterans in its 71-63 win over New Mexico in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday.

Senior guard Jaden Akins was the star of the game for the Green and White, as the fourth-year Spartan led the way with 16 points, going 7-11 from the field.

Akins stepped up big in a game where his collegiate career was at risk of coming to an end, and by the end, he and his teammates stood victorious, clinching a Sweet 16 berth.

The veteran leader addressed the media after the win. You can watch some of his availability below:

Below is a transcript of Michigan State coach Tom Izzo's opening statement of his postgame press conference:

Izzo: "We're going to Atlanta, and all the meals are on you, right, guys?

"Well, opening statement is another team that really, I thought, played well. The first half of that game, that was as good of a barrage as we've had hit us. It wasn't that we were down a lot, 10 points, but it just seemed like we weren't guarding, and they were making shots. Give them credit.

"I thought from about the 9-minute mark on, we did a better job in the first half, and I thought the second half, even though they shot a pretty good percentage, I think -- yeah, 48 percent, I'm not sure anybody has shot that against us.

"They're talented. They're good. They had a kid [Mustapha] Amzil played out of his mind. I thought he had 12 at halftime. He's making 3s; he's doing everything. I thought Jeremy [Fears Jr.] and Jaden and Tre [Holloman] all did a good job on [Donovan] Dent, and Dent is a hell of a player.

"But I thought we got our break going when we got our defense going, and we rebounded the ball pretty well.

"I don't know what the final total was, by six, but that's a talented, well-coached team, and I'm just happy we got the win. I'm happy we showed a little character after we got down and weren't playing very well."

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