An Inside Look – Michigan State Faces Mississippi State in the NCAA Tournament

East Lansing, Mich. – Michigan State Head Men's Basketball Coach has been through this before. Maybe not like this year, when he wasn't sure not where his Spartans would be, but whether his Spartans would be IN the 2024 NCAA Tournament.
But when your name appears on the screen and your team is called, it's always a good feeling.

So when the Spartans found out – and they had to wait until the last bracket was called – they were seeded No. 9 and would face No. 8 seed Mississippi State on Thursday, March 21 (12:15 p.m., CBS) at Spectrum Center in Charlotte, N.C., a cheer erupted in the recruiting lounge of the Breslin Center and Izzo pumped his fist.

"It was just so great to see the name, you sit there and everybody was nervous, I didn't hear from many people today. Usually I'm hearing from everybody. But, that thing hit and Draymond, Mateen, Dantonio, I went right down the list.
"It's so cool to be in a place where they're so excited for you and for the program and for the players. And God, I love that. It's why I've never left, and we've got to get something done too. We've played good enough to play with a lot of people. We played good enough to beat some people.

"But I appreciate y'all, it's been an interesting year when it's all said and done. Not a bad year, just an interesting year that I don't feel that we accomplished what we could have or should have or needed to but I'm only going to tell you – it's different for everybody right now. We're a nine seed, not the highest seed I've been, not the lowest seed I've been. I'm looking forward to getting to Charlotte."

WHERE TO WATCH & LISTEN

The game will air live on CBS, with Brian Anderson, Jim Jackson and Allie LaForce calling all of the action.
The Spartan Media Network radio call can be heard state-wide and on the web at MSUSpartans.com, with Will Tieman handling the play-by-play and Matt Steigenga serving as the color analyst, and Blake Froling is the studio host.
The game can also be heard on channel 201 or 2018 on SiriusXM and on the SiriusXM app.

MICHIGAN STATE IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT

Michigan State is making its 26th-straight trip to the NCAA Tournament under Coach Tom Izzo, extending the longest NCAA Tournament streak in Big Ten history.
In being selected, Izzo also extended his record by coaching his team to 26 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances.
Michigan State's streak of 26 straight NCAA Tournaments is not only a Big Ten record, it's also the third-longest in NCAA history and is officially recognized by the NCAA as the longest active streak.
This is the 37th NCAA Tournament appearance all-time for MSU, tied for the 10th-longest streak all-time, and has an all-time record of 72-35 (.673) in its previous 36 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 72 total victories rank sixth all-time.
Michigan State's 10 Final Four appearances are tied for sixth most.

MSU IN OPENING GAMES

In its 36 NCAA Tournaments, Michigan State has a record of 28-8 in its first game of the tournament.
Since the field expanded in 1985, the Spartans are 24-8 in opening games, including 24-7 in the round of 64.
Tom Izzo is 19-5 in the round of 64.

ABOUT THE SPARTANS

Michigan State enters Thursday's first round NCAA Tournament game against Mississippi State with a 19-14 overall record following a 67-62 loss to Purdue in the Big Ten Quarterfinals last Friday.
MSU finished with a 10-10 Big Ten Conference record and earned the No. 8 seed in the league tournament.
The Spartans have four players scoring in double figures, and 10 with at least 3.0 points, while nine players average at least 10 minutes per game.
Through 33 games, graduate guard Tyson Walker leads the team in scoring with 18.2 points per game, connecting on 44.2 percent of his shots.
- In Big Ten games, Walker averaged 17.6 ppg and 3.0 assists, while shooting 42.9 percent from the floor.
- Walker was a Second Team All-Big Ten selection for the second-straight year.
- Walker is one of five finalists for the Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award.
- He is the ONLY active Division I player who has at least 2,000 career points, 500 assists and 200 steals.
- He reached the 1,000-point mark at MSU earlier this year and ranks among the top-25 all-time in scoring at State.
Graduate forward Malik Hall, who has scored in double figures in 15 of the last 18 games and 17 of the last 20 overall, is second on the team with 12.6 points, while grabbing 5.6 rebounds (a team-best) and 2.0 assists.
- In league games, Hall averaged 14.5 ppg, 6.3 rpg and 2.1 apg.
- Hall earned honorable mention All-Big Ten honors this year.
- Hall reached the 1,000-point mark for his career earlier this year and is one of 22 players in MSU history with at least 1,000 points and 600 rebounds.
Senior guard A.J. Hoggard is third on the team with 11.0 points, while adding 3.1 rebounds and 5.2 assists, which ranks fourth in the B1G ...
- Hoggard is third in the Big Ten, and No. 21 nationally, in assist/turnover ratio (3.05).
- Hoggard earned All-Big Ten honors for the second-straight year, tabbed as an honorable mention selection.
- He was the third MSU player this year to reach the 1,000-point mark for his career.
- Hoggard is one of six players in MSU history with at least 1,000 points and 600 assists.
- He is also just one of three MSU players since 1992-93 (Denzel Valentine, Cassius Winston) with 1,000 points, 500 assists and 300 rebounds.
Junior guard Jaden Akins, who scored a career-high 23 points against Michigan and has been in double figures in 14 of the last 22 games, is fourth on the team with 10.1 points and 3.8 rebounds.
Sophomore guard Tre Holloman is averaging 5.8 points and is third on the team with 2.4 assists.
Freshman forward Xavier Booker is averaging 3.7 points and 1.6 rebounds.
Sophomore center Carson Cooper adds 3.6 points and 4.5 rebounds (in five starts, he is averaging 3.0 points and 6.8 rebounds.
Senior forward Mady Sissoko adds 3.3 points and 5.1 rebounds ... Freshman forward Coen Carr contributes 3.3 points and 1.9 rebounds.

SCOUTING MISSISSIPPI STATE

The Bulldogs enter the NCAA Tournament with a 23-11 overall record.
Mississippi State finished ninth in the SEC standings with an 8-10 league mark.
The Bulldogs reached the semifinals of the SEC Tournament with wins over eighth-seeded LSU and top-seeded Tennessee before falling to third-seeded Auburn.
Head Coach Chris Jans (Loras College '91) is in his second season at Mississippi State with a record of 42-26 (.618).
- He has led the Bulldogs to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances for the first time since 2008-09; he took MSU to the First Four last season.
- Jans owns a 185-70 overall record in eight seasons, and his .725 winning percentage ranks sixth among active Division I coaches with at least five seasons of experience.
- Before taking over in Starkville, Jans posted a 122-32 (.792) record in five seasons at New Mexico State, where he led the Aggies to three NCAA Tournaments, including a win over No. 5-seeded UConn in the 2022 NCAA Tournament.
- He was the head coach at Bowling Green for one season in 2014-15, going 21-12 and earning a postseason berth in the CIT.
- Jans is 1-4 overall in NCAA Tournament games (0-1 at Mississippi State; 1-3 at New Mexico State).

SERIES HISTORY

This will mark only the fourth all-time meeting between Michigan State and Mississippi State and the first since 1973.
The Spartans are 3-0 in the previous three meetings (1934, 1948, 1973).

COMMON OPPONENTS

The Spartans and Bulldogs played two common opponents this season: Northwestern and Rutgers.
- Michigan State split the season series against Northwestern and beat Rutgers in East Lansing on Jan. 14, 73-55.
- Mississippi State topped Northwestern, 66-57, on Nov. 19 to win the Hall of Fame Tipoff Tournament in Uncasville, Connecticut, and defeated Rutgers, 70-60, in Newark on Dec. 23.

BULLDOG NOTES

This is Mississippi State's second consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance and 13th overall in school history (11-12 all-time record).
MSU lost to Pitt by one point, 60-59, in the First Four last season and finished with a 21-13 record.
Mississippi State ranks No. 1 in the SEC and seventh in the nation in 3-point field-goal percentage defense (29.4%) ... MSU also ranks No. 1 in the SEC in steals per game (8.1 avg.).
The Bulldogs are 28th in the country in rebound margin (+5.9) and 38th in bench points per game (26.1 avg.)
Freshman guard Josh Hubbard, a second-team All-SEC and All-Freshman Team honoree, is one of the top 3-point shooters in the country, ranking fourth in Division I in 3-point attempts (293), 13th in total 3-pointers (105) and 23rd in 3-pointers per game (3.09).
- He also leads the SEC in all three of those categories and ranks sixth in the conference overall with 17.1 points per game.
- He was named the SEC Freshman of the Week a school-record five times this season and has already set a school record for most points in a single-season by a freshman with 583.
- Hubbard finished his high school career at Madison-Ridgeland Academy as the all-time leading scorer in the history of Mississippi (4,367 points).
Graduate forward Tolu Smith III was named a first-team All-SEC selection and is averaging 15.2 points and 8.4 rebounds per game.
- He ranks third in the SEC with nine double-doubles.
Senior forward Cameron Matthews, who was named to the SEC All-Defensive Team, leads the team and ranks 25th in the nation with 69 steals (2.0 spg).
- He has started 54 consecutive games and 67 of the past 68 games over the last two seasons.