Columbus, Ohio – At Michigan, the motto in the NCAA Tournament is to win the weekend.
On Sunday evening at Nationwide Arena, the seventh-ranked Spartans did just that, starting quickly, rallying and then holding on to defeat No. 2 Marquette, 69-60, to advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2019, last season’s Spartans made the Final Four.
BOX SCORE: Michigan State 69, Marquette 60
Michigan State (21-12) will take on No. 3 Kansas State on Thursday at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Tyson Walker scored 23 goals, including 17 in the second half, to lead the Spartans while Joey Hauser scored 14 and AJ Hoggard added 13 points to help Michigan beat Michigan State 2-for-16 from 3-point range.
Oliver Maxence Prosper scored 16 goals, leading Marquette (29-7), Cam Jones added 14, and Oso Ijodaro scored 10 goals for the Golden Eagles.
Michigan State came out shooting, beating Doran in the first 10 seconds to score 11 straight points and jump out to an 11-2 lead just four minutes into the game.
That lead continued to grow and after Hauser hit two consecutive free throws, the Spartans led 18-5 with 12:24 left in the first half.
Marquette’s offense started to pick up from there and took an eight-run lead at 21-13, but Michigan State pushed the lead to 27-15 on a lob pass from Malik Hall to Carson Cooper. However, the Golden Eagles put the defensive pressure in the entire field and upset the Spartans when they made it 6-0 to within 27-21.
Michigan State managed to restore the lead to nine at 31-22, but Marquette scored seven straight goals on a pair of 3-pointers before Jaden Akins closed the scoring with a passer-by, giving the Spartans a 33-28 lead at halftime.
Marquette was the team that got off to a fast start in the second half as the Golden Eagles hit two 3-pointers in the first minute and scored their first eight points of the half to take a 34-33 lead, their first since going 2-0.
Michigan State was able to restore the lead at 40-39, but another 3-pointer by David Joplin gave Marquette a 42-40 lead with 12:09 to play as Michigan State couldn’t buy a shot, being 2-for-10 in the second half up to that point.
Despite this, the Spartans stormed back, forcing turnovers and building a 52-45 lead after a pair of Walker free throws with 6:33 to play. But the Golden Eagles got the next six to pull one. After Hoggard split a pair of free throws, Hauser hit three from the corner.
But Jones hit back on the other end to pull Marquette inside 56-54 with 4:13 to play. After Marquette’s free throw, Michigan State got buckets from Walker and Hoggard to push the lead to 60-55 with 2:20 to play.
Then Walker hit a birdie, made two free throws and then had a steal and a dunk to push the Lads to 66-55 before a Tyler Kolek 3-pointer. But the Spartans put the game away at the free throw line.
Twitter: @mattcharboneau
“Award-winning social media nerd. Food specialist. Amateur entrepreneur. Pop culture maven. Subtly charming explorer.”