Jaden Akins scored 16 points, including a crucial 3-pointer that put Michigan State ahead for good, leading the Spartans to a 71-63 win over New Mexico on Sunday night and sending them to the Sweet 16 for the 16th time under coach Tom Izzo.
Izzo, who has 58 NCAA Tournament wins, is tied for fourth in coaching career victories. The 70-year-old Hall of Famer has taken the Spartans to March Madness 27 times.
Izzo has defeated the Pitino family four times in tournament play. He is 2-0 against New Mexico coach Richard Pitino and 2-1 against Richard’s father, Rick Pitino. The elder Pitino, whose St. John’s team was eliminated by Arkansas on Saturday, was in Cleveland to watch the game from a front-row seat across from the Lobos’ bench.
Tre Holloman added 14 points for Michigan State (29-6), who will play Mississippi in the South Region semifinal in Atlanta on Friday night. Mississippi, seeded sixth, defeated Iowa State to reach the second weekend of the tournament for the first time since 2001.
Izzo said, “The first half of that game, that was as good of a barrage as we’ve had hit us. It wasn’t that we were down a lot, but it just seemed like we weren’t guarding, and they were making shots. I thought we got our break going when we got our defense going, and we rebounded the ball pretty well.”
Nelly Junior Joseph scored 16 points for New Mexico (27-8), while Mustapha Amzil and Donovan Dent each added 14. The Lobos have now lost all seven of their second-round games since the field expanded to 64 teams in 1985.
“They’re big, they’re strong, they’re athletic. They had some blocked shots from behind that I hadn’t seen all year. Certainly, there’s another level of athleticism that we’re not used to,” said Pitino about Michigan State. “We knew they’d make us earn it. I was wishing we could get to the foul line a little bit more. We did not. Making five free throws versus a very, very physical team is hard.”
Michigan State trailed 31-29 at halftime but opened the second half with six straight points. Coen Carr’s two free throws 90 seconds into the second half gave the Spartans their first lead.
Donovan Dent shoots in the 1st halfA layup by Dent tied the game at 51-51 with 7:39 left. Michigan State then took control, going on a 7-0 run, which started with a 3-pointer by Akins as the shot clock was running out with New Mexico’s Tru Washington defending him.
“I feel like it was pretty big just giving us the lead. It gave us some momentum. I haven’t been shooting good, so it just felt good to be efficient today,” Akins said. He finished 7-for-11 from the field after a rough 4-for-15 performance in Friday’s first-round win over Bryant.
New Mexico never trailed in the first half, leading 29-20 after Amzil’s second 3-pointer of the game. Michigan State responded with an 8-0 run, including a dunk by Akins.
Turning Point
Joseph picked up his fourth foul with 8:35 left in the game. He returned with 3:50 remaining but fouled out with 2:12 left.
During the nearly five minutes Joseph was on the bench, Michigan State outscored New Mexico 14-7.
“It’s really disappointing because we feel like we can beat them because we were beating them in the first half. We know we can beat them. We know we are better than them so it’s really disappointing to lose to a team we are way better than,” Joseph said. He also had seven rebounds.
Key Stat
New Mexico, which had been averaging 23 free throw attempts per game, made only 5 of 10 in this game.
Michigan State was 19 of 28 from the line, including 13 of 18 in the second half.
Moving On Up
Izzo tied retired Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim for the most NCAA Tournament wins. Ahead of Izzo are Mike Krzyzewski of Duke (101), Roy Williams (79 with Kansas and North Carolina), and the late Dean Smith (65 with North Carolina).
“Anytime you can accomplish something with your team and your coaches that some of the most respected guys in college basketball have achieved, I guess it’s a privilege and an honor,” Izzo said. “I just never see any kind of banners hanging for those kinds of things, and I’m not kind of a banner guy. So until that happens, I’ll enjoy it, but I won’t do cartwheels over it.”
