No. 2 Seed Michigan State Faces No. 3 Seed LSU in Sweet 16 Friday

WASHINGTON D.C. – Michigan State's men's basketball team, the No. 2 seed in the East Region of the NCAA Tournament, practiced locally on Thursday and went through media obligations in advance of its 2019 NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 matchup with No. 3 seed LSU on Friday evening at 7:09 p.m. ET inside Capital One Arena.

Records
Michigan State, coming off a 70-50 win over Minnesota in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, has won seven-straight games and 12 of its last 13 and enters the game with a 30-6 overall record. LSU defeated No. 6 seed Maryland, 69-67, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament and enters Friday's game with a 28-6 record.

Last Time Out
Junior guard Cassius Winston (Detroit, Mich./University of Detroit Jesuit) scored seven-straight points during a key second half run as No. 2 seed Michigan State beat No. 10 seed Minnesota, 70-50, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at Wells Fargo Arena on Saturday night … Winston finished with 13 points and nine assists, while sophomore forward Xavier Tillman (Grand Rapids, Mich./GR Christian) led the Spartans with 14 points and had six rebounds. Four other players scored nine points apiece.

About the Spartans

Through 36 games, Winston leads the team with 18.9 points per game and 7.5 assists per game ... Winston is fourth in the Big Ten in scoring and is No. 3 in the country in assists per game ... In five postseason games, Winston is averaging 18.4 points and 7.0 assists.
Junior forward Nick Ward (Gahanna, Ohio/Lincoln), who missed five games with a hairline fracture in his left hand, is averaging 13.7 points and 6.2 rebounds (6.2 ppg, 3.8 rpg in 12.6 minutes since his return).
McQuaid is averaging 9.9 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.2 assists, has scored in double figures 17 times this year and ranked second in the Big Ten in 3-point field goal percentage.
Sophomore forward Xavier Tillman (Grand Rapids, Mich./GR Christian) is scoring 9.8 points per game, is second on the team with 7.2 rebounds and is third in the Big Ten in field goal percentage (60.4 percent) ... In 10 starts since Ward's injury, Tillman is averaging 13.5 points and 8.0 rebounds.
Goins is sixth on the team in scoring with 8.1 points and leads the team with 8.9 rebounds per game, which ranks No. 41 nationally.
Freshman Aaron Henry (Indianapolis, Ind./Ben Davis) is averaging 5.6 points and 3.8 rebounds (7.0 ppg, 4.7 rpg in 19 starts).
MSU ranks among the top-10 in the country in nine different statistical categories ... The Spartans rank No. 45 in the country in scoring offense (78.5 ppg), No. 14 in field goal percentage (48.6%), No. 34 in scoring defense (65.1 ppg) and No. 3 in field goal percentage defense (37.7%).

Fourteen Sweet 16s in 22 Years

Since Michigan State's first trip to the NCAA Tournament under Tom Izzo in 1998, the Spartans have advanced to the Sweet 16 14 times in the last 22 years.
Michigan State is 9-6 in Sweet 16 games since 1985, having won nine of its last 12.
MSU has made nine trips to the Final Four (1957, 1979, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2015) and captured the NCAA Championship in 1979 and 2000.
MSU's .684 winning percentage is the eighth-best all-time in NCAA Tournament play, while the program's 67 total victories rank sixth all-time.

Izzo's NCAA Streak

Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo is making his 22nd-straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
It's the second-longest active streak in the nation, trailing only Mike Krzyzewski, who is making his 24th straight trip this season.
The 22-year streak is the longest in Big Ten history by a head coach and the third longest in NCAA history ... Only Dean Smith (North Carolina, 23-1975-97) and Krzyzewski (24) have longer streaks
Izzo's 22 tournament appearances rank 12th-most all-time.

MSU in Sweet 16 Games

The Spartans reached the Sweet 16 for the 14^th time in the last 22 years and the eighth time in the last 12 years … Michigan State is 9-6 in Sweet 16 games since 1985, having won nine of its last 12 … All-time, MSU is 13-6 in the regional semifinals … Tom Izzo is 9-4 in the Sweet 16.

The Series

Friday's game will be just the second meeting all-time between Michigan State and LSU.
MSU won the only previous meeting, 87-71, as the second-seeded Spartans defeated third-seeded LSU in the Mideast Regional Semifinals of the 1979 NCAA Tournament in Indianapolis on March 16. Magic Johnson led Michigan State with 24 points and 12 assists.
The Spartans went on to win their first national title, defeating Notre Dame (80-68), Pennsylvania (101-67) and Indiana State (75-64) in the NCAA Championship game.

About LSU

LSU (28-6) is making its 22nd NCAA Tournament appearance overall and first since 2015, when they earned a No. 9 seed and lost, 66-65, to No. 8 NC State in the first round. The Tigers are 26-24 all-time in the tournament.
It is LSU's fifth appearance in the Sweet 16 since the NCAA Tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985.
The Tigers got a layup from Tremont Waters in a tied game against No. 6 Maryland with 1.6 seconds left to advance to the Sweet 16 by a 69-67 score.
LSU led by as many as 15 points in the first half, and held a 38-29 halftime advantage. Skylar Mays led LSU with 16 points, hitting four 3-pointers. Naz Reid added 13 points, and Waters scored 12 points.
The Tigers won their first NCAA Tournament game since the 2009 first round with a 79-74 win over Ivy League tournament champion Yale in the opening round.
LSU won the game in the first half, building a 45-29 halftime advantage thanks to 58.1 percent shooting from the floor (18-of-31).
Skylar Mays finished with a game-high 19 points, while Tremont Waters added 15 points and seven assists.
The Tigers No. 3 seed is its highest since earning a No. 1 seed in 1981.
LSU earned the SEC regular season title with a 16-2 conference record, they were defeated in the by Florida, 76-73, in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals.

The game will air live on CBS, with Jim Nantz calling the play-by-play, Grant Hill and Bill Raftery serving as the analysts and Tracy Wolfson on sidelines.