Spartans Open NCAA Tournament on Friday Against Southern Cal

East Lansing, Mich. – Michigan State is making its 25th-straight trip to the NCAA Tournament under Coach Tom Izzo, extending the longest NCAA Tournament streak in Big Ten history. In being selected, Izzo became the first men's basketball head coach in history to lead his team to 25-straight NCAA Tournament appearances. The Spartans are the No. 7 seed in the East Region and will open against No. 10 Southern California on Friday, March 17 (12:15 p.m., CBS).

The game will air live on CBS, with Andrew Catalon, Steve Lappas and Jamie Erdahl calling all of the action. The TCF Bank Spartan Media Network radio call can be heard on one of 38 affiliates and on the web at MSUSpartans.com, with Will Tieman handling the play-by-play and Matt Steigenga serving as the color analyst. The game can also be heard on channels 133 or 201 on SiriusXM and on channel 964 on the SiriusXM app.

About the Spartans

Michigan State has won 14 of its last 22 games and enters the game on Friday with an 19-12 overall record, including an 11-8 mark in Big Ten play during the regular season.
The Spartans, who played one of the nation's toughest schedules in the country to open the season, have faced the No. 2 toughest slate of opposing offenses in the country, the 23rd-toughest slate of opposing defenses and rank No. 7 overall in strength of schedule, per KenPom.com.
The Spartans are ranked No. 7 in the NET Strength of Schedule and have a combined 11 wins in Quadrant 1 & 2.
Through 31 games, senior guard Tyson Walker leads the team in scoring with 14.6 ppg, while adding 2.5 rebounds and 2.8 assists ... Walker is 11th in the B1G in field goal percentage, connecting on 46.0 percent of his shots.
Graduate forward Joey Hauser is second on the team in scoring with 14.2 points per game and leads the team in rebounding with 6.9 boards per game, while shooting 48.9 percent from the floor and 45.6 percent from 3-point land ... Hauser is one of 31 players in Division I averaging at least 14.2 ppg, 6.9 rpg and 1.9 apg.
Junior guard A.J. Hoggard is third on the team with 12.5 points, fifth with 3.8 rebounds and leads the team (and is 3rd in the Big Ten) with 6.0 assists per game ... Hoggard is one of three Division I players in the country averaging at least 12.5 ppg, 3.7 rpg and 6.0 apg.
Sophomore guard Jaden Akins is fourth on the team with 9.6 points and 3.9 rebounds, connecting on 43.6 percent of his 3-point attempts.
Senior forward Malik Hall is fifth on the team with 9.5 ppg and third with 4.2 rpg while playing 25.4 minutes in 20 games this season.
Junior forward Mady Sissoko is averaging 5.0 points and is second on the team with 6.1 rebounds ... Sissoko is ranked No. 16 in the B1G in rebounding.
The Spartans are No. 4 in the country in 3-point field goal percentage, connecting on 39.5 percent of their shots from long distance.
Other national ranks for Michigan State: No. 54 in 3-point defense (31.5%); No. 33 in assist/turnover ratio; No. 69 in assists per game (14.8 apg); No. 41 in turnovers per game (10.9) and No. 32 in free throw percentage (76.2%)

MSU's NCAA Streak

Michigan State is making its 25th-straight NCAA Tournament appearance in 2023 ... It is the longest streak ever among Big Ten schools and second-longest current streak in the nation ... Only Kansas (33) has a longer current streak.
Michigan State's streak of 25 straight NCAA Tournaments is not only a Big Ten record, it's also tied for the third-longest in NCAA history (Kansas, 33, 1990-2022; North Carolina, 27, 1975-2001; Duke, 24, 1996-2019).

MSU in the NCAA Tournament

Michigan State is making its 36th appearance in the NCAA Tournament with a record of 70-34 (.673) in its previous 35 tournaments ... MSU has made 10 trips to the Final Four (1957, 1979, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2015, 2019) and captured the NCAA Championship in 1979 and 2000.
MSU's .673 winning percentage is the eighth-best all-time in NCAA Tournament play, while the program's 70 total victories rank sixth all-time.

Izzo's NCAA Streak

In being selected to the NCAA Tournament this year, Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo became the first men's basketball head coach in history to lead his team to 25 straight NCAA Tournament appearances.
The previous record was Duke's Mike Krzyzewski with 24 in a row from 1996-2019.
The 25-year streak is the longest in Big Ten history by a head coach and the third longest in NCAA history ... Izzo's 25 tournament appearances rank 12th-most all-time.

MSU in Opening Games

In its 35 NCAA Tournaments, Michigan State has a record of 27-8 in its first game of the tournament ... Since the field expanded in 1985, the Spartans are 23-8 in opening games, including 23-7 in the round of 64 ... Tom Izzo is 18-5 in the round of 64.
In 24 previous years of the Big Ten Tournament, MSU has a record of 34-18.
The Spartans won the tournament in 1999, 2000, 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2019, and lost in the quarterfinals in 1998, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2007, 2010 and 2017.
MSU lost in the semifinals in 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013 and 2018, and dropped the 2015 title game in overtime.

About the Trojans

The Trojans enter the NCAA Tournament with a 22-10 overall record. USC tied for second in the Pac-12 standings with a 14-6 league mark.
This is USC's third consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance and 20th overall (17-22 all-time record).
USC is making its third consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament for just the second time in school history (2007-09).
USC has won 20-plus games four years in a row, which is a school record (22 in 2019-20; 25 in 2020-21; 26 in 2021-22; 22 in 2022-23).
USC ranks first in the Pac-12 and 10th in the NCAA with 5.2 blocks per game … The Trojans also lead the Pac-12 and rank seventh in the country in field-goal percentage defense (.390).
Senior captain guard Boogie Ellis (6-3, 185), a first-team All-Pac-12 selection, ranks second in the Pac-12 and 64th in the country in scoring with 18.0 points per game; Ellis also leads the Pac-12 with 83 3-pointers.
Fellow fifth-year senior captain guard Drew Peterson (6-9, 205) was also named first-team All-Pac-12, scoring 14.0 points per game while dishing out a team-best 4.4 assists.
Sophomore guard Kobe Johnson (6-6, 200) ranks second in the Pac-12 and 20th in the nation with 2.2 steals per game.
Junior forward Joshua Morgan (6-11, 235) leads the Pac-12 and is 15th in the nation with 2.3 blocks per game (63 total) … Both Johnson and Morgan were named to the Pac-12 All-Defensive Team.
Tre White (6-7, 210) earned Pac-12 All-Freshman Team honors and is averaging 9.1 points per game and 5.1 rebounds per game.
Sophomore guard Reese Dixon-Waters (6-5, 210) earned Pac-12 Sixth Person of the Year honors; he averages 9.8 points and 3.2 rebounds per game.

Series History

Friday's game will mark the seventh all-time meeting between MSU and USC … The series is currently tied, 3-3.
The schools last met in the second round of the 2009 NCAA Tournament, as the No. 2 seed Spartans beat the No. 10 seed Trojans, 74-69, en route to the NCAA Championship game.

Spartans Open NCAA Tournament on Friday Against Southern Cal

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Players Mentioned

Jaden Akins

Malik Hall

Joey Hauser

A.J. Hoggard

Mady Sissoko

Tyson Walker

Spartans Open NCAA Tournament on Friday Against Southern Cal

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Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jaden Akins

Malik Hall

Joey Hauser

A.J. Hoggard

Mady Sissoko

Tyson Walker

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