Death, taxes, and Tom Izzo's teams in March. These are the three most reliable things in this world, and the Spartans showed way once again on Friday night, bullying No. 15 seed Bryant in their NCAA Tournament opener.
If you were going to draw up a Michigan State victory in a lab, it would look an awful lot like this: Sparty grabbed a whopping 21 offensive rebounds, part of a 54-29 advantage on the glass overall, while holding Bryant to just 5-of-26 shooting from beyond the arc. It's not always pretty, but it's very often effective, and if Tre Holloman is helping Jase Richardson carry some of the scoring slack and knocking down shots, MSU can beat just about anybody in this tournament.
Of course, it's one thing to beat up on a team from the America East Conference. Doing the same thing to stiffer competition is another, and the road to the Final Four is about to get much tougher in the second round.
Who does Michigan State play in the second round of the NCAA Tournament?
Michigan State was likely licking its chops at the opportunity to get another crack at Marquette, whom the Spartans upset in the second round of the 2023 tournament. But New Mexico guard Donovan Dent had other ideas, hitting big shot after big shot to lead the Lobos to their first win in the Big Dance since 2012.
Donovan Dent scored 21 to lead New Mexico to the Lobos' first March Madness win since 2012 🔥 pic.twitter.com/EsKynCqonS
— B/R Hoops (@brhoops) March 22, 2025
The regular-season Mountain West champions, the Lobos are coached by Richard Pitino, son of Rick, and share a lot of his dad's DNA: mediocre on offense, but swarming on defense. New Mexico struggles to make shots at times, but the defense travels, and they have one heck of a one-two punch in Dent and big man Nelly Junior Joseph.
When was the last time Michigan State made the Sweet 16?
Sparty last reached the tournament's second weekend back in 2023, when they pulled off the aforementioned win over No. 2 seed Marquette. But that's the only time Izzo has been to the Sweet 16 since 2019, one of only two times over the past decade. Of course, that 2019 team made it all the way to the Final Four, so we're not saying that Izzo has lost his touch. We're just saying that it's been a little while, at least by his standards.