On This Date: March 20 Provides Some Memorable MSU Games

East Lansing, Mich. - In years past, March 20 has provided some memorable moments in Michigan State men's basketball history.

Any team playing in March will have days or dates that bring back some good memories, but in the last five times the Spartans have played on March 20, three of those seasons ended with the team reaching the Final Four.

March 20, 2015 – Georgia, W, 70-63 – (Charlotte, N.C.) Final Four
March 20, 2014 – Delaware, W, 93-78 (Spokane, Wash.)
March 20, 2009 – Robert Morris, W, 77-62 – (Minneapolis, Minn.) Final Four
March 20, 2008 – Temple, W, 72-61 (Denver, Colo.)
March 20, 2005 – Vermont, W, 72-61 (Worcester, Mass.) Final Four

The last time a Tom Izzo team played on March 20, it was the 2015 season and the Spartans entered the NCAA Tournament as a No. 7 seed and made what many would consider an improbable run to the program's then seventh Final Four.

It took a tough, hard-earned 70-63 win over Georgia in the first round, a game in which MSU led by 12 points with 90 seconds left until the Bulldogs rallied to make it a one-possession game, to start the road. Denzel Valentine scored 16 points, Travis Trice had 15 points and Brandon Dawson had a big second half, as Valentine hit six free throws in the final 30 seconds to secure the win.

"My father told me nothing was going to be easy and we kind of lived on that today," Izzo said afterward. "I thought we played about 3-4 different games today. As they say, it's win and advance, and that's what we're going to do.'

Six years prior, in 2009, Raymar Morgan scored 16 points, Goran Suton had 11 points and 17 rebounds and Draymond Green added 16 points as second-seeded Michigan State bullied 15th-seeded Robert Morris in a 77-62 victory in the first round of the Midwest Regional in Minneapolis.

The Spartans would beat USC to reach the Sweet Sixteen in Indianapolis and posted wins over Kansas and Louisville to advance to the Final Four and eventually lost to North Carolina in the national championship game.

And four years prior to that, in 2005, the fifth-seeded Spartans beat upstart Vermont, 72-61, in the second round to reach the Sweet Sixteen en route to the program's fourth Final Four under Izzo. The Catamounts, a No. 13 seed, had upset No. 4 seed Old Dominion in the first round.

Maurice Ager scored 19 points and Paul Davis had 11 points and 14 rebounds for Michigan State (24-6).

"I'm glad it's over," Izzo said after playing Vermont at the DCU Center in Worcester, Mass, just three hours from the Catamounts campus. "I thought, with the entire state and nation pulling for them, it would be tough to overcome. I tell you, if I wasn't playing against them, I'd be pulling for them."

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