Michigan State Plays UConn in the Sweet Sixteen on Friday Night in the Nation’s Capital

Friday, March 27

Washington, D.C.

9:45 P.M.

Michigan State University

(2) Connecticut

Photo by: Matthew Mitchell Photography

Michigan State Plays UConn in the Sweet Sixteen on Friday Night in the Nation’s Capital

3/26/2026 4:16:00 PM | Men's Basketball

2026 MSU NCAA Tournament Regional Media Guide 37 MSU

WASHINGTON – No. 3 seed Michigan State plays No. 2 seed UConn on Friday, March 27 in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament at Capital One Arena in the Nation's Capital (9:45 p.m., CBS). MSU posted a 77-69 win over No. 6 seed Louisville last Saturday to advance to the Sweet 16 for the third time in four years, with junior forward Coen Carr recording his first career double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds.

Friday night's game will air live on CBS, with Ian Eagle, Bill Raftery and Grant Hill calling all of the action. The Spartan Media Network radio call can be heard state-wide, with Will Tieman handling the play-by-play, Matt Steigenga serving as the color analyst and Dalton Shetler as the studio host. The game can also be heard on channels 203 or 210 on SiriusXM or on the SiriusXM app.

About the Spartans

Michigan State enters Friday's NCAA East Regional with a 27-7 overall record (15-5 in the Big Ten Conference).
The Spartans are No. 11 in the latest Associated Press ESPN Coaches poll (March 16).
MSU is No. 11 in the NCAA Net Rankings and No. 9 per KenPom.
Through 34 games, MSU has four players scoring in double figures and eight averaging at least 5.0 ppg.
MSU's captains (Carson Cooper, Jaxon Kohler, Coen Carr and Jeremy Fears Jr.) have combined for 64.1% of the team's scoring (1,728 of 2,695 points) and average 50.8 ppg, 23.9 rpg and 13.4 assists.
Jeremy Fears Jr., who leads the team with 32.3 minutes played, leads the team with 15.3 ppg and is handing out 9.4 assists per game, tops in the nation ... His 321 total assists rank No. 2 in the country ... His 8.8 apg in B1G games tied the season record of 8.8 set by Purdue's Braden Smith last year.
Jaxon Kohler is second on the team in scoring with 12.6 ppg and tops the team with 8.9 rpg (3rd B1G, #35 nationally) ... Kohler ranks No. 28 nationally with 12 double-doubles this season & has scored in double figures 24 times ... His 8.9 rebounds are the most since Xavier Tillman Sr. had 10.3 in 2019-20.
Coen Carr, one of the most athletic players in all of college basketball, is third on the team with 12.0 ppg, third on the team with 5.5 rpg and 1.2 apg in 29.0 mpg.
Carson Cooper, who had 16 points and a career-best 16 rebounds vs. Duke and tied his career-high of 20 points against North Dakota State, is playing a career-high 26.7 mpg, is fourth on the team with 11.0 ppg and second with 7.1 rpg, 10th in the B1G ... He has scored in double figures 20 times.
Jordan Scott is averaging 5.9 ppg and 3.0 rpg in 20.8 mpg (with 7.4 ppg and 2.9 rpg in 22.9 mpg in B1G play) and Cam Ward is scoring 5.2 ppg and is fourth on the team with 4.2 rpg.
Kur Teng, who scored a career-high 18 points at Indiana, is averaging 7.5 ppg and 2.0 rpg, while senior guard Trey Fort is tallying 4.2 ppg, redshirt freshman Jesse McCulloch is averaging 2.4 ppg and 1.3 rpg and senior guard Denham Wojcik averages 1.2 assists in 5.6 minutes ... Divine Ugochukwu, out for the season with a left foot injury, averaged 5.1 ppg, 1.5 rpg and 1.6 apg in 16.9 mpg in 22 games.

Spartans in the Sweet 16

Since the NCAA Tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985, Michigan State has advanced to the round of 32 on 27 occasions.
This is MSU's 19th trip to the Sweet 16 since the NCAA Tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985, including the 17th under Tom Izzo.
Michigan State is 11-7 in Sweet 16 games since 1985, having won 11 of its last 15 ... All-time, MSU is 15-7 in the regional semifinals.
Tom Izzo is 11-5 in the Sweet 16.

MSU in the NCAA Tournament

Michigan State is making its 39th appearance in the NCAA Tournament with a record of 78-37 (.678) in its previous 38 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 .678 winning percentage is the ninth-best all-time in NCAA Tournament play, while the program s 78 total victories rank sixth all-time.
Michigan State's 10 Final Four appearances are tied for sixth most.
MSU's 39 tournament appearances are tied for the ninth-most all-time.

Izzo's NCAA Streak

Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo is making his 28th-straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
It is the longest streak in Division I men s basketball history, ranking ahead of Gonzaga s Mark Few (26, active), Duke s Mike Krzyzewski (24) and North Carolina s Dean Smith (23).
Izzo's 28 tournament appearances rank tied for fifth-most all-time, and are second among active coaches behind only Rick Barnes (30, Tennessee, Texas, Clemson, Providence).

Seventeen Sweet 16's in 28 Years

Since Michigan State's first trip to the NCAA Tournament under Tom Izzo in 1998, the Spartans have advanced to the Sweet 16 17 times in the last 28 tournaments.
In that period, only Duke (21) has appeared in more Sweet 16s The Spartans have reached the Sweet 16 11 times in the last 18 tournaments.

About UConn

Second-seeded UConn enters the Sweet 16 with a 31-5 record after defeating No. 15 seed Furman in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, 82-71 and No. 7 seed UCLA in the second round, 73-57.
The Huskies finished in second place in the BIG EAST standings at 17-3, one game behind St. John's.

Series History

Friday's game will mark the ninth all-time meeting between Michigan State and UConn and the third in the NCAA Tournament.
The series is currently tied at 4-4 and 1-1 in the NCAA Tournament.
The Spartans have won the last two meetings with a 77-57 win on Nov. 24, 2017, in the PK80 in Portland, Oregon, and a 64-60 victory on Nov. 25, 2021, in the Battle 4 Atlantis in The Bahamas.
MSU beat UConn in the 2009 Final Four at Ford Field in Detroit, 82-73, but fell in the 2014 East Regional Final, 60-54, at Madison Square Garden.
The two teams met in an exhibition earlier this season in Hartford on Oct. 28, with UConn winning, 76-69.