Despite the fact that LSU entered the game with a more talented roster on paper, Michigan State never trailed in their Sweet 16 matchup, rolling past the Tigers 80-63 to advance to the Elite Eight.
Spartans’ head coach Tom Izzo’s reputation as a March wizard took a bit of hit with three first weekend exits in a row, but Michigan State is back to being a tournament force again. Michigan State never trailed in their matchup with 3-seed LSU, walking away with an 80-63 win that was never really that close.
Izzo came up with a great game plan against LSU, which looked flustered from the jump, and the Spartans did pretty much everything right. Michigan State out-rebounded LSU 41-34 for the game, knocked down 13 three pointers, and even showed tremendous poise early in the second half when the Tigers went on a 12-0 run to cut the lead to four points.
Izzo admitted after the game that he considered calling a timeout when the Tigers were making their run, but he didn’t due to his faith that the Spartans would figure it out. They responded in flying colors, going on an 11-0 run of their own to blow the lead out to 15 points and basically put LSU away for good.
The star player for the Spartans was freshman Aaron Henry, who Izzo went nuclear on during Michigan State’s tight first round matchup with Bradley. Henry had 20 points on 9-14 shooting to go along with eight rebounds and six assists, showing that Izzo hasn’t lost his touch when it comes to getting the best out of his players.
The Spartans did sustain another injury, however, when forward Nick Ward exited the contest in the final minutes after landing on his left hand following a flagrant foul from LSU. There was no immediate word on Ward’s status after the game, but if he is forced to miss Michigan State’s Elite Eight matchup it could be tough to overcome.
If there’s one thing that should give the Michigan State faithful comfort, however, it is the fact that Izzo is back in the zone on the sidelines. In the second game of a tournament weekend, where the opposing team has less than 48 hours to prepare for their next opponent, the Spartans have gone 22-6 under Izzo’s watch, which could be a scary prospect for either Duke or Virginia Tech.