Saturday, March 23
5:30 p.m.
Michigan State University
vs
North Carolina (NCAA Second Round)
Photo by: Matthew Mitchell
Michigan State Faces North Carolina on Saturday in NCAA Tournament
3/22/2024 2:58:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Charlotte, N.C. – No. 9 seed Michigan State plays No. 1 seed North Carolina on Saturday, March 23 (CBS, 5:30 p.m.) in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. MSU advanced to the second round with a 69-51 win over No. 8 seed Mississippi State on Thursday afternoon.
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 208 or 201 on SiriusXM and on the SiriusXM app.
"When you look at my record in the NCAA against them (North Carolina), it doesn't feel very good at all," MSU Head Coach Tom Izzo said. "But the opportunity to change that and the opportunity to go against people -- I still talk to Roy (William) quite a bit. I've always had great respect for their program and the way they've done it.
"I used to work Michael Jordan's fantasy camp, so it goes way, way back. It means a lot to me. Number one, we're still playing. Number two, it's the opportunity of a lifetime. That's what these are. These are memory-making moments. I watched the Oakland-Kentucky game last night. I'm not going to sit here and act like it's the same because it's not the same. I think we've earned our stripes as a program too. We've always said, since the first year we got to the Final Four way, way back, and what
I've done with scheduling a lot of times, including the aircraft carrier when Roy and I played on that, to be the best, you've got to beat the best.
"I think they've earned the right to be a great program. Hubert's done a great job when you look at his years, and going to a Final Four his first year. So it's all good. The president, the women's team playing, the relationship with players, those are all good. But come 5:30 it's the Hatfield's and the McCoy's, and then at 7:30 it's back to hugging and kissing, I guess."
MSU IN THE ROUND OF 32
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 208 or 201 on SiriusXM and on the SiriusXM app.
"When you look at my record in the NCAA against them (North Carolina), it doesn't feel very good at all," MSU Head Coach Tom Izzo said. "But the opportunity to change that and the opportunity to go against people -- I still talk to Roy (William) quite a bit. I've always had great respect for their program and the way they've done it.
"I used to work Michael Jordan's fantasy camp, so it goes way, way back. It means a lot to me. Number one, we're still playing. Number two, it's the opportunity of a lifetime. That's what these are. These are memory-making moments. I watched the Oakland-Kentucky game last night. I'm not going to sit here and act like it's the same because it's not the same. I think we've earned our stripes as a program too. We've always said, since the first year we got to the Final Four way, way back, and what
I've done with scheduling a lot of times, including the aircraft carrier when Roy and I played on that, to be the best, you've got to beat the best.
"I think they've earned the right to be a great program. Hubert's done a great job when you look at his years, and going to a Final Four his first year. So it's all good. The president, the women's team playing, the relationship with players, those are all good. But come 5:30 it's the Hatfield's and the McCoy's, and then at 7:30 it's back to hugging and kissing, I guess."
MSU IN THE ROUND OF 32
- Since the NCAA Tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985, Michigan State has advanced to the round of 32 on 25 occasions.
- MSU has a 17-7 record in round of 32 games since 1985, including 15-4 under Tom Izzo.
- Michigan State's deep NCAA Tournament runs can be attributed to its success with quick turnarounds.
- Under Tom Izzo, the Spartans are a remarkable 24-7 in the second game of an NCAA Tournament weekend ... Five of the seven losses have come to No. 1 seeds or eventual National Champions.
- Michigan State has won 16 of its last 25 games and enters the game on Saturday with a 20-14 overall record (10-10- mark in Big Ten play during the regular season, finishing in eighth place)
- The Spartans advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament with a 69-51 win over Mississippi State in the first round on Thursday.
- The win over Mississippi State on Thursday gave MSU its 20th win of the season, the 12th time in the last 13 seasons the team has won at least 20 games under Izzo.
- Izzo has 23 20-win seasons at Michigan State and has missed the plateau only twice since 2003-04.
- The West Region's No. 1-seed, North Carolina enters Saturday's game with Michigan State with a 28-7 record following a 90-62 win over Wagner on Thursday.
- RJ Davis scored 22 points to lead four players in double figures ... Armando Bacot had 20 points and 15 rebounds, Jae'Lyn Withers scored 16 points and had 10 rebounds and Cormac Ryan added 13 points.
- The Tar Heels won the Atlantic Coast Conference regular season title with a 17-3 record.
- UNC earned its 53rd all-time bid to the NCAA Tournament, the second most in men's college basketball, and are a No. 1 seed for the 18th time.
- North Carolina returns to the NCAA Tournament after missing out in 2023.
- UNC has the most all-time NCAA Tournament wins with 132 and the second-best winning percentage of .729 (132-49).
- The Tar Heels have the third-most National Championships in history with six.
- Michigan State and North Carolina are No. 1 and No. 2 in Final Four appearances since 1999 with eight and seven respectively.
- MSU Assistant Coach Doug Wojcik was an assistant at UNC for three years and his son, Paxson, is a graduate student guard for the Tar Heels.
- North Carolina holds a 12-5 series lead over Michigan State.
- The Spartans won the last meeting, 63-45, in the championship game of the 2017 PK80 Invitational.
- MSU and UNC have faced off five times in the NCAA Tournament, twice in the Final Four.
- The Tar Heels were victorious in both the 2005 National Semifinal and 2009 National Championship game.
- The teams also played in the 1957 Final Four, a 74-70 UNC win in triple overtime.
- MSU won the first-ever meeting, 53-48, on Feb. 14, 1948 in North Carolina.
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