Friday, March 21
Rocket Arena • Cleveland, Ohio
10 P.M.
Michigan State University
28-6,17-3Big Ten
87
vs
62
Bryant
23-12,14-2America East
1
2
F
Bryant
28
34
62
Michigan St.
33
54
87
Photo by: Matthew Mitchell Photography
No. 2 Seed Michigan State Defeats No. 15 Seed Bryant in NCAA Tournament First Round, 87-62
3/22/2025 12:28:00 AM | Men's Basketball
CLEVELAND, Ohio – Sophomore forward Coen Carr scored a career-high 18 points to lead five players in double figures and No. 2 seed Michigan State used a big second half to pull away from No. 15 seed Bryant, 87-62, in an NCAA Tournament first round game on Friday night at Rocket Arena.
The Spartans (28-6) outscored the Bulldogs (23-12) in the second half, 54-34.
Carr scored 15 of his 18 points in the first half, while adding nine rebounds and two assists. Freshman guard Jase Richardson scored 15 points, grabbed three rebounds and had two assists, junior guard Tre Holloman added 14 points and four assists, redshirt freshman guard Jeremy Fears Jr. had 11 points and a game-high six assists and senior guard Jaden Akins finished with 11 points and five rebounds. Junior center Carson Cooper chipped in six points and had nine rebounds.
Records
· MSU improves to 28-6, while Bryant finishes the season 23-12.
Recap
· The Spartans led by five points, 33-28, at the break and forced Bryant to call a timeout just over two minutes into the second half after back-to-back 3-pointers from Akins and Fears gave MSU a 42-33 lead.
· A put-back dunk from Carr 16:40 extended the run to 11-5 and gave the Spartans a 44-33 lead.
· After Bryant cut the lead back to single digits at 54-46 with 11:55 to play, Holloman hit a 3-pointer at the 10:54 mark and Michigan State led in double-digits the rest of the game.
· Over the course of the next five minutes, MSU opened up a 20-point lead following Holloman's 3-pointer with 5:46 left in the game that made it 73-53.
· Akins had an emphatic dunk on a fast break that put MSU on top, 81-57, with 3:12 remaining.
· Nick Sanders closed out the scoring for the Spartans with a bucket with 53 seconds left.
· Michigan State went into the half with a 33-28 advantage, thanks in large part to Carr, who scored 15 points and had five rebounds in the opening frame.
· Bryant jumped out to an early 5-0 lead after a 3-pointer from Barry Evans and a layup from Earl Timberlake before the Spartans got on the board.
· Akins hit a free throw at 17:23 and followed with a 3-pointer at 16:54 before a free throw from redshirt freshman guard Jeremy Fears Jr. tied the game at 7-all at 15:35.
· The teams went back and forth before the Bulldogs used a 5-0 burst to take a 19-15 lead on a 3-pointer from Rafael Pinzon a 9:16.
· Carr tied the game at 19-all with 7:06 left and a 3-pointer from Bryant's Keyshawn Mitchell gave Bryant its last lead of the half, 24-21, with 5:09 to play.
· The Spartans responded with a 10-0 run, a 3-pointer from Richardson capping it off to give MSU a 31-24 lead and force Bryant to call a timeout.
· A layup from Timberlake with four seconds left cut the margin to 33-28 at the break.
· Michigan State dominated the second half by outscoring Bryant, 54-34.
Key Stats
· Michigan State outrebounded Bryant, 54-29, including a 21-9 advantage on the offensive side of the glass. MSU had 16 offensive rebounds in the second half.
· The Spartans were 10-of-26 shooting 3-pointers, including 7-of-18 in the second half (.389) after shooting 3-of-8 (.375) in the first half.
· MSU held significant advantages in second-chance points (31-6), fast-break points (15-0) and bench points (46-8).
Up Next
· Michigan State will face No. 10 seed New Mexico in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday at 8:40 p.m. The game will be televised on TNT.
The Spartans (28-6) outscored the Bulldogs (23-12) in the second half, 54-34.
Carr scored 15 of his 18 points in the first half, while adding nine rebounds and two assists. Freshman guard Jase Richardson scored 15 points, grabbed three rebounds and had two assists, junior guard Tre Holloman added 14 points and four assists, redshirt freshman guard Jeremy Fears Jr. had 11 points and a game-high six assists and senior guard Jaden Akins finished with 11 points and five rebounds. Junior center Carson Cooper chipped in six points and had nine rebounds.
Records
· MSU improves to 28-6, while Bryant finishes the season 23-12.
Recap
· The Spartans led by five points, 33-28, at the break and forced Bryant to call a timeout just over two minutes into the second half after back-to-back 3-pointers from Akins and Fears gave MSU a 42-33 lead.
· A put-back dunk from Carr 16:40 extended the run to 11-5 and gave the Spartans a 44-33 lead.
· After Bryant cut the lead back to single digits at 54-46 with 11:55 to play, Holloman hit a 3-pointer at the 10:54 mark and Michigan State led in double-digits the rest of the game.
· Over the course of the next five minutes, MSU opened up a 20-point lead following Holloman's 3-pointer with 5:46 left in the game that made it 73-53.
· Akins had an emphatic dunk on a fast break that put MSU on top, 81-57, with 3:12 remaining.
· Nick Sanders closed out the scoring for the Spartans with a bucket with 53 seconds left.
· Michigan State went into the half with a 33-28 advantage, thanks in large part to Carr, who scored 15 points and had five rebounds in the opening frame.
· Bryant jumped out to an early 5-0 lead after a 3-pointer from Barry Evans and a layup from Earl Timberlake before the Spartans got on the board.
· Akins hit a free throw at 17:23 and followed with a 3-pointer at 16:54 before a free throw from redshirt freshman guard Jeremy Fears Jr. tied the game at 7-all at 15:35.
· The teams went back and forth before the Bulldogs used a 5-0 burst to take a 19-15 lead on a 3-pointer from Rafael Pinzon a 9:16.
· Carr tied the game at 19-all with 7:06 left and a 3-pointer from Bryant's Keyshawn Mitchell gave Bryant its last lead of the half, 24-21, with 5:09 to play.
· The Spartans responded with a 10-0 run, a 3-pointer from Richardson capping it off to give MSU a 31-24 lead and force Bryant to call a timeout.
· A layup from Timberlake with four seconds left cut the margin to 33-28 at the break.
· Michigan State dominated the second half by outscoring Bryant, 54-34.
Key Stats
· Michigan State outrebounded Bryant, 54-29, including a 21-9 advantage on the offensive side of the glass. MSU had 16 offensive rebounds in the second half.
· The Spartans were 10-of-26 shooting 3-pointers, including 7-of-18 in the second half (.389) after shooting 3-of-8 (.375) in the first half.
· MSU held significant advantages in second-chance points (31-6), fast-break points (15-0) and bench points (46-8).
Up Next
· Michigan State will face No. 10 seed New Mexico in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday at 8:40 p.m. The game will be televised on TNT.
Team Stats
BRY
MSU
FG%
.371
.443
3FG%
.208
.385
FT%
.556
.714
RB
29
54
TO
7
11
STL
5
3
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
15
FGM
5
3FGM
3
FTM
2
Pts
14
FGM
4
3FGM
4
FTM
2
Pts
11
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
6
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Basketball
C
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