March Madness 2016, Middle Tennessee upsets Michigan State: Full highlights

Full highlights and more from Middle Tennessee’s upset of Michigan State in March Madness

The Michigan State Spartans almost surely looked at their region in the 2016 March Madness Bracket and were already looking past their First Round matchup against the No. 15 seed Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders. They found out pretty quickly on Friday afternoon, though, that Middle Tennessee was not the team to take lightly.

The Blue Raiders jumped on the Spartans early as they went on a 15-2 run to start the game. Rather than playing the game to the more common narrative where they blow that lead pretty quickly as the higher seed gets into a rhythm, Middle Tennessee didn’t let that happen. Thanks to a ton of sharpshooting from a bevy of players on their roster, the Blue Raiders continued to hold the lead and went into halftime up by six points.

Though Michigan State started to garner some momentum in the second half, Middle Tennessee was already believing that they could pull off the biggest upset of 2016 March Madness and played like it. A senior-laden team, the Blue Raiders played with composure on both ends of the floor and avoided any major mistakes.

Even with that composure, the Spartans still cut into the lead slowly but surely and, with just more than a minute remaining, Michigan State trailed only by three points. That’s when Middle Tennessee again showed their veteran savvy and came up with a big bucket to go up by five with 54 seconds remaining and then force a turnover on the ensuing Spartans possession. They turned that into an and-1.

Up by seven points after the missed free throw with under 40 seconds on the clock, there were still plenty of possessions left, but none of them changed the result. It was a magical start to March Madness for Middle Tennessee as they came up with the monster upset win.

For all your March Madness news, updates, and more, stay in touch with the FanSided hub. Now onto the highlights from this game.

Highlights:

"What's bringing Sparty back? Maybe some of this"