Thursday, March 23
New York, N.Y. / Madison Square Garden
6:30 p.m.
Michigan State University
vs
Kansas State
Photo by: Matthew Mitchell Photography
Michigan State Plays Kansas State on Thursday at Madison Square Garden in NCAA Regional Semifinal
3/22/2023 3:42:00 PM | Men's Basketball
NEW YORK – No. 7 seed Michigan State plays No. 3 seed Kansas State in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday, March 23 at Madison Square Garden, the World's Most Famous Arena. The Spartans beat No. 2 seed Marquette, 69-60, in the second round to reach the Sweet 16 for the 15th time in the 25 years and the ninth time in the last 15 years.
The Spartans are making their 17th trip to the Sweet 16 since the NCAA Tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985, including the 15th under Head Coach Tom Izzo. With the win over second-seeded Marquette, Izzo now has the most wins (16) as a lower seed by a head coach in NCAA Tournament history (Jim Boeheim, Syracuse, 15). Since 1998, the Spartans are 15-4 in their second NCAA Tournament game.
The game will air live on TBS, with Brian Anderson, Jim Jackson and Allie LaForce 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
The Spartans are making their 17th trip to the Sweet 16 since the NCAA Tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985, including the 15th under Head Coach Tom Izzo. With the win over second-seeded Marquette, Izzo now has the most wins (16) as a lower seed by a head coach in NCAA Tournament history (Jim Boeheim, Syracuse, 15). Since 1998, the Spartans are 15-4 in their second NCAA Tournament game.
The game will air live on TBS, with Brian Anderson, Jim Jackson and Allie LaForce 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 16 of its last 24 games and enters the game on Thursday with an 21-12 overall record (11-8 mark in Big Ten play during the regular season, finishing in fourth place).
- The win over USC in the first round gave MSU its 20th win of the season, the 11th time in the last 12 seasons the team has won at least 20 games under Izzo … Izzo has 22 20-win seasons at Michigan State and has missed the plateau only twice since 2003-04.
- Through 33 games, senior guard Tyson Walker leads the team in scoring with 14.8 ppg, while adding 2.5 rebounds and 2.8 assists ... Walker is 11th in the B1G in field goal percentage, connecting on 46.2 percent of his shots.
- Graduate forward Joey Hauser is second on the team in scoring with 14.3 points per game and leads the team in rebounding with 7.1 boards per game, while shooting 48.5 percent from the floor and 46.2 percent from 3-point land ... Hauser is one of 32 players in Division I averaging at least 14.3 ppg, 7.0 rpg and 1.8 apg.
- Junior guard A.J. Hoggard is third on the team with 12.5 points, fifth with 3.7 rebounds and leads the team (and is 3rd in the Big Ten) with 5.9 assists per game ... Hoggard is one of three Division I players in the country averaging at least 12.5 ppg, 3.7 rpg and 5.9 apg.
- Sophomore guard Jaden Akins is fourth on the team with 9.6 points and 4.0 rebounds, connecting on 40.5 percent of his 3-point attempts.
- Senior forward Malik Hall is fifth on the team with 8.8 ppg and third with 4.2 rpg while playing 25.6 minutes in 22 games this season.
- Junior forward Mady Sissoko is averaging 5.1 points and is second on the team with 6.2 rebounds ... Sissoko is ranked No. 16 in the B1G in rebounding.
- The Spartans are No. 8 in the country in 3-point field goal percentage, connecting on 38.7 percent of their shots from long distance and No. 39 in free throw percentage (75.7).
- This is MSU's 17th trip to the Sweet 16 since the NCAA Tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985, including the 15th under Tom Izzo.
- Michigan State is 10-6 in Sweet 16 games since 1985, having won 10 of its last 13.
- All-time, MSU is 14-6 in the regional semifinals.
- Tom Izzo is 10-4 in the Sweet 16.
- Since Michigan State's first trip to the NCAA Tournament under Tom Izzo in 1998, the Spartans have advanced to the Sweet 16 15 times in the last 25 years.
- Since 2000, only Duke (16) and Kansas (14) have more Sweet 16 appearances than Michigan State's 13 ... Kentucky, UNC, UCLA, Gonzaga are tied with 12 since 2000.
- The Spartans have reached the Sweet 16 nine times in the last 15 years.
- The third-seeded Wildcats enter the Sweet 16 with a 25-9 overall record. K-State tied for third in the Big 12 standings with an 11-7 league mark.
- KSU beat No. 14 seed Montana State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, 77-65, and then topped sixth-seeded Kentucky, 75-69, in the second round.
- 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. Kansas State is making its fourth appearance in the Sweet 16 since the field expanded to 64 teams in 1985.
- The Wildcats are 39-35 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
- KSU earned an NCAA Tournament bid for the first time since 2019; it marks the 32nd all-time appearance for K-State in the field.
- Senior forward Keyontae Johnson leads the team in scoring (17.5 ppg) and rebounding (7.0); he was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year after arriving at KSU in August 2022 after not playing basketball for nearly two years. He suffered a medical emergency at Florida in December 2020. Johnson was also named a third-team Associated Press All-American and first-team All-Big 12 honoree.
- Senior guard Markquis Nowell, who was also named a third-team AP All-American and first-team All-Big 12 selection, ranks second on the team in scoring (17.1 ppg) … He also leads the Big 12 in assists (7.8 apg) and steals (2.4 spg), numbers which rank second and 10th in the nation, respectively … In addition, Nowell is third in the Big 12 with 81 3-pointers and was named to the All-Big 12 Defensive Team … He had 17 points and 14 assists in the first-round win over Montana State, then scored 27 points with nine assists against Kentucky in the second round.
- As a team, KSU leads the Big 12 and ranks ninth in the country with 16.8 assists per game.
- Thursday's game marks the eighth all-time meeting between MSU and Kansas State.
- MSU leads the series, 5-2, but the teams have never met in the NCAA Tournament.
- The Spartans are riding a three-game winning streak in the series, although the two schools haven't met since 1996.
- MSU and KSU played a home-and-home during Tom Izzo's first two seasons as head coach of the Spartans, with Izzo winning in Manhattan on Dec. 16, 1995, 67-54, and in East Lansing on Dec. 21, 1996, 75-43.game in overtime.
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