Michigan State Meets with the Media, Plays Mississippi State on Thursday in NCAA Tournament

Charlotte, N.C. – Michigan State's men's basketball team arrived in Charlotte on Tuesday afternoon and arrived at Spectrum Center on Wednesday morning to meet with the media and take part in an open practice ahead of the 2024 NCAA Tournament.

The Spartans, seeded No. 9 in the West Region, face off against No. 8 seed Mississippi State in the first round on Thursday, March 21. The game tips off at 12:15 p.m. on CBS, with Brian Anderson, Jim Jackson and Allie LaForce handling the call. 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 85 on SiriusXM and on the SiriusXM app.

Arriving at Spectrum Center at 10 a.m., Michigan State was the first team to go through media sessions, with graduate students Malik Hall and Tyson Walker and senior A.J. Hoggard on the podium, followed by Head Coach Tom Izzo.
The Spartans went through a 40-minute workout that was open to the public starting at 11 a.m., then went for a closed practice at a facility in the city.

For Izzo, it's a return to North Carolina, when Michigan State played in the Sweet Sixteen against North Carolina in 1998, his first NCAA Tournament as a head coach.

"I'm excited to be here," Izzo said. "When you go 26 times in a row, which is pretty neat and one of your first was here, makes it even neater. I think the best thing was to actually be in a room, not sure what was going on, not sure what was going to happen, and to see players and families and managers and even me kind of excited that we got in.

"Not that in ways I didn't think we deserved to get in, but I understood where we were. It's kind of been, well, we're in. Where are we going? This year it kind of made me appreciate it a little bit what has gone on the last 26 years, and that was probably good for me. Wouldn't want that to happen that often, but it was exciting for that night."

For the players, the experience of having been in the tournament during their careers is one of the biggest advantages as they prepare for their first round game.

"The advantage is just experience really," Hall said. "You understand what it's like. You understand every possession in this tournament. You understand the difference in emotion and kind of the emotion not only of your team, but of the crowd, and just everything that's going on around you. I think that's probably the biggest thing that stands out to me."

After finding out they would play the Bulldogs during the selection show on Sunday night, the Spartans have spent the last three days of practice getting ready for their MSU counterpart.

"They're relentless on the glass, relentless with their effort," Hoggard said. "They have a lot of athletes, especially in that SEC Conference, like they get up and down and they have people that can go off and we have to contain."

With all of the elation of seeing their name appear on the board on Sunday night and the practices done in preparation for the game, the Spartans will tip off on Thursday in the first round.

"We just have to know that nothing's given," Walker said. "No lead is safe. You've got to still play every possession. You've got to finish the game. You've got to play the whole 40 minutes."

Michigan State Meets with the Media, Plays Mississippi State on Thursday in NCAA Tournament

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Players Mentioned

Malik Hall

A.J. Hoggard

Tyson Walker