Michigan State and Tom Izzo returned in the Sweet 16 after not being there since 2019. This would be against Kansas State, who completed their first-weekend win over Kentucky last Sunday. Nowell and Johnson were by far the best duo the Spartan's defense would get to see this season, and they made it known. From East Region action at Madison Square Garden, here is a rewind of how the play went down.
1st Half
These teams wasted no time getting the action started, as right after the tip, the Wildcats scored the game's first points. The game would be neck and neck most of the way. Michigan State saw a positive sign as Joey Hauser his two threes early on to keep the Spartans close. But for Kansas State, Nowell was just in a groove. The guard found shots before the Spartan's defense could react and finished the first half with ten assists. A big part of that would be Keyontae Johnson, who had 14 of his first-half points thanks to Nowell's elite passing ability. The largest lead that either team held was six points. Kansas State would find a run later in the opening half in an 8-0 spurt to give them control of the final minutes of the first half. Hauser's 12 first-half points led the Spartan's play, following a 24-20 Spartans lead. Hauser's 12 first-half points led the Spartans, and MSU finished a perfect 9-9 from the free throw line. Michigan State would have plenty of open looks that fall short, but that is how it goes. It was nice to see Akins score five in a row at one point and that even if it's not a significant margin, the three balls have fallen more today than Sunday. The big takeaway from the half is that Nowell is the real deal and cooked up the Spartan defense in the first 20 minutes.
2nd half
The opening minutes of the second half saw some similarities to the first. Joey Hauser and Jaden Akins knocked down a three each for Michigan State, but the Wildcat's offense can come right back. At the first half media break, the score would read (50-46) Kansas State. Michigan State would spring back into this game when the next vacation rolled around. After going down seven at (45-38), Sparty would go on a 22-14 spurt to give the Spartans the (60-59) advantage with just over 10 minutes remaining in the game. The battle continued,d this was the fight that everyone thought it would be. Hoggard would have a pair of and one opportunity, and the three balls for both teams would seem to find the bottom. The Wildcats had an answer for every MSU shot; when MSU went off (70-67), KSU punched back with five straight points before the next break. What was already a classic really began to heat up with just 5:45 left in the game and a two-point Wildcat advantage. A 10-0 run by Kansas State would push their lead back out to seven (77-70) before Walker answered with a three. By the time the final media timeout came around, the Wildcats would hold a 77-73 edge with Hoggard going to the line out of the break. What an ending to regulation. Michigan State got a huge basket from Walker, and this game would end up in OT! 82-82 the score as MSU ended the half on a 12-5 run to force OT.
OT
To overtime, we go, and it didn't lack in any way from what led to this point. The teams would go back and forth once more, and it just got better and better. With the game tied at 84, Tyson Walker hit a big-time three to put the Spartans ahead. Following that, we saw the Wildcats answer each time once again. Hoggard would go to the rack twice and get a couple of gritty baskets. But with just a minute left in the game, a Nowell lob for his 18th assist (!!) went to Johnson for one of the coolest ally-oops I have ever seen to put the Wildcats up 94-92. Michigan State would have a chance to tie the game with Malik Hall's free throws but fell short to 94-93. Kansas State would hit a dagger with just over 15 seconds left to score 96-93. Out of a timeout and 14 seconds to play, Michigan State couldn't find a shot and fumbled away a layup to lose 98-93. Kansas State, led by Nowell with a record 19 assists, got the job done as it was just KSU's day.