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Michigan State outlasts Ole Miss in Sweet 16: Spartans reach Elite Eight for 15th time

Michigan State outlasts Ole Miss in Sweet 16: Spartans reach Elite Eight for 15th time

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The Athletic has live coverage of Florida vs. Texas Tech and Duke vs. Alabama in the Elite Eight of the Men’s NCAA Tournament

ATLANTA — Every other Michigan State player was either in the shower or already out of the locker room. Jaden Akins was still in uniform, rung out, resting elbows on knees. He pressed a pair of First Aid scissors down along his ankles, cutting tightly wound athletic tape.

If anyone wants these moments to last, it’s Akins. On a team that has, all season, managed to win games it seemingly shouldn’t and gotten by when ready to go awry, he’s the avatar for what this is all about. He’s found a way, no matter what.

“This is life, really,” Akins said Friday night.

If this Michigan State team is going to reach the Final Four, this is how it’s going to do it.

By taking it. Akins and the Spartans let yet another team feel like it had them beat Friday. Then they peeled back fingers, pried hands away and took a game away. Why? Because they wanted it: this time a 73-70 Sweet 16 win over SEC foe Ole Miss in a game that, until the final six or seven minutes, felt like it might end as the greatest victory in Rebels hoops history. The program entered the night looking for its first trip to the Elite Eight.

Instead, Michigan State is going to the South Region final to play top-seeded Auburn and stands an arm’s length from a ninth Final Four in Tom Izzo’s 30-year tenure. The Spartans’ 30th win of the season marked the eighth time since the start of February that they won after trailing at halftime.

“I don’t know what it is about them,” Izzo said. “I just know that they respond.”


Michigan State sophomore forward Coen Carr (55) finished with 15 points on Friday against Ole Miss in the Sweet 16. (Brett Davis / Imagn Images)

There’s no fancy metric for that. Down the stretch Friday, multiple Michigan State huddles looked like someone called a fire drill and forgot to unlock the doors. Players, coaches, everyone. Yelling, hollering. At issue was everything from defensive communication lapses against Ole Miss marksman Sean Pedulla to the Michigan State guards dealing with Ole Miss’ ball-screen defense.

To anyone who hasn’t watched the Spartans, these moments are when everything looks like it’s coming undone. To anyone who speaks the language, it was understood what actually was happening.

“We are all crazy, and everyone is trying to get their point across,” Akins said. “That’s just who we are. After everyone says what they have to say, we calm down and realize the task at hand.”

Michigan State didn’t take its first lead Friday until the seven-minute mark of the second half. Then the two teams rip-snorted their way through the finish, matching moment for moment.

With four and half minutes to go, a steal at midcourt led to Coen Carr cocking the ball behind his head and dunking it so hard that teammate Jeremy Fears later said, “That was worth more than two points.”

Carr’s violence was answered by Pedulla’s touch. The senior responded with a 3-pointer and a cold stare with just over four minutes left.

Back and forth they went. All told, there were four ties and four lead changes set up a singsong final six minutes.

Michigan State’s solutions stemmed from those huddles. Moving the ball more and more from one side of the court to the other, the Spartans got the Rebels moving left to right and right to left, then picked spots for their big men to seal their defenders and drive. Just like that, “We started to see lanes,” Akins said.

After Carr’s dunk, Michigan State took control of the game with three straight made shots, all on drives to the basket, courtesy of Fears, Jase Richardson and Akins. That’s how a team that has made seven or fewer 3s in 25 of 35 games manages to keep on winning. That’s how a team that ranks 318th in the country in 3-point shooting is going to the Elite Eight.

“We don’t panic,” point guard Tre Holloman said.

The Spartans’ rallying cry since midseason has been their pride in parceled production. They printed T-shirts and everything. “Strength in numbers,” they read. The team entered Friday with 10 players averaging more than 12 minutes per game and more than four points per contest. No one plays more than 27 minutes or averages more than 13 points per game.

Against Ole Miss, Izzo tightened his rotation to eight and inserted Carr, an explosive 6-foot-6 forward, into the starting lineup, not because Izzo wanted to give him a start in his hometown of Atlanta, but to match up better with versatile Ole Miss four man Dre Davis.

The move seemingly backfired early, leaving Michigan State without a true center and taking away a perceived interior advantage. Expecting to dominate the offensive glass, Michigan State instead spent most of the first half taking difficult shots amid a thicket of Ole Miss defenders on one-and-done trips. The Rebels led by as many as 10 in the first half thanks to early 3s by Pedulla and strong play from veteran Matthew Murrell.

In time, however, Izzo’s moves proved to play out. Michigan State trailed 33-31 at the break, setting up a familiar recipe in another come-from-behind win.

Now it’s on to Sunday. A ninth Final Four appearance would tie Izzo with Roy Williams, ranking fourth all-time in Final Four appearances, behind only Mike Krzyzewski (13), John Wooden (12) and Dean Smith (11). No one, including Izzo, is exactly sure how much longer the Hall of Famer is going to spend on the sidelines. Realistically, how many more chances like this will there be?

So it’s appropriate that this team is the one giving him and Michigan State a shot. In an age when college basketball teams operate with blurry, fitful identities, these Spartans are built in their coach’s image.

Players like Akins. Friday was the 137th game of the senior’s four-year college career. Coming to Michigan State from Farmington, Mich., he averaged three shots per game as a freshman, eight as a sophomore, 10 as a junior and now 12 per game as a senior. He has played in four NCAA Tournaments. He has run and rebounded in who knows how many practices. He has yelled at Izzo. He has been yelled at by Izzo. He has taken every incremental step imaginable that it takes to get every drop out of his talent.

That’s why he’s still in the locker room. And why Michigan State is still alive.

“I’ve had a long four-year career, which I feel like, hasn’t actually been that long because it went by like that,” Akins said. “I’m just grateful to have this team on my last go-round. Everyone here is so resilient, and now we’ve found ourselves with a chance to do something really special. I am just one of them.”

(Top photo of Tre Holloman: Brett Davis / Imagn Images)



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