Clutch free throws down the stretch by Markquis Nowell sealed the game, and advanced Tang and his team into the Sweet 16. The game was very much back-and-forth, but a 3-pointer by Ismael Massoud gave Kansas State the lead with 2:19 left to play, and this lead was never given back. John Calipari and his Kentucky Wildcats stood in the way of Kansas State’s first Sweet 16 since 2018. This led to an all-Wildcats matchup in the Round of 32. The Bobcats hung around for a while until eventually the Wildcats pulled away to a 77-65 victory. 3 seed in the East Region, K-State was matched with 14-seeded Montana State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. This should not detract anything from their season, however, as they finished the regular season with a phenomenal 9-7 record against Quad 1 teams.ĭrawing the No. 5 in the country later in the year, before slightly faltering in February. This game took place in Austin and ended in regulation, revealing the offensive firepower of Tang’s team. finished in a tie for third in the extremely tough Big 12, with an 11-7 conference record.Īfter an impressive 12-1 start, Kansas State really started to open eyes with an incredible 116-103 win against then-No. The Wildcats are led by first-year head coach Jerome Tang, who has had a more-than-impressive opening season in Manhattan. What’s next for Michigan State basketball? After a triumphant 69-60 victory of Marquette on Sunday, all eyes shift to the next opponent, the Kansas State Wildcats. The Sweet 16 opponent of Michigan State basketball had an interesting road here and here’s how the Spartans can stop the Wildcats here. How did Kansas State get to the Sweet 16 and how can Michigan State basketball make sure that the Wildcats’ road ends here? Now it’s time to regroup and bounce back. Not often this year could I say that Michigan State played horribly and had no chance (Northwestern, Notre Dame, at Purdue) but this one qualifies. OK, so maybe I’d say “MSU is getting hot at the right time” if they had won convincingly and then won against Purdue to make the Big Ten title game, but it’s been a while since the Spartans had a clunker. Of course, we don’t know which team is going to show up next week in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, but the fact that they played this horribly in the Big Ten Tournament (first time in weeks they looked this bad) feels like it got out of the system at the perfect time. Thankfully, it got this one out of the system now. Michigan State can’t go 3-for-16 from three and shoot 38 percent from the floor with only nine assists to eight turnovers if it wants to make any noise this March. This just simply cannot happen moving forward. It was the worst showing from this team since the egg it laid against Purdue in West Lafayette in January. Malik Hall played his worst game of the season, Tyson Walker was just off, AJ Hoggard was dealing with early turnovers and foul trouble, Jaden Akins wasn’t hitting his normal threes, and the bench didn’t provide any life. While it’s become somewhat of a Michigan State basketball staple to lose to teams that are missing their best player, it doesn’t make it any less aggravating. Even without Brice Sensabaugh, Ohio State was the better team for about 36 minutes on Friday. Unlike the previous two matchups against the Buckeyes in which the Spartans dominated (once on defense and the other on offense), Michigan State looked unprepared. The team that we saw for the past two weeks shooting over 55 percent from 3-point range and averaging 80-plus points per game was gone. The Buckeyes cruised to their third straight win with a 68-58 dismantling of what looked like a confused, unmotivated, and lifeless Spartan squad. Ohio State was all over the Spartans from start to finish on Friday afternoon, dominating from after the under-16 timeout on. Someone forgot to tell Michigan State basketball that they only got a double-bye and not a triple-bye in the Big Ten Tournament this weekend. Michigan State basketball got its worst showing in weeks out on Friday afternoon against Ohio State in Chicago.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |