Okay, I have about fifteen minutes to write this article before the next game starts.

Do you all know the formula by now? First possession turnover. Near shot-clock violation on the next. Lots of standing around and isolation plays and missed jumpers and more turnovers. A ten-point deficit in the first half. Throw in a nine-point deficit in the 2nd before the comeback really gets going.

Now I’ll be honest. This one had me more nervous than most of the previous games that have followed this formula. I had hoped that when we took our first lead of the game in the middle of the 2nd half that we would never relinquish it. That would not be the case but, in the end, Michigan State pulled it out and advanced to the Elite 8 to take on an opponent to be determined later tonight.

Tonight, the first half performance was really trying to stretch how big of a hole the Spartans could dig for themselves. In addition to the first two possessions that were about as bad as they could, the one area that we all thought would be our biggest advantage in this game turned out to not be. In the first half, Ole Miss outrebounded Michigan State 16-15, including a 5-3 edge on the offensive glass. MSU hurt themselves with seven 1st half turnovers, five which came by Rebel steals. Those 7 giveaways led to 9 Ole Miss points off turnovers; MSU only had 2 in the first half. Ole Miss also had an advantage in points in the paint 18-10 going to intermission, something that was unexpected for a team whose tallest player is 6’9”.

Give Mississippi credit though. Their plan to absolutely swarm on defense clearly gave the Spartans all sorts of problems. Fortunately for the Spartans, they were able to slice a ten-point deficit at the last 1st half timeout down to a two-point game at the break. But at the beginning of the 2nd half, the Rebels slowly stretched their lead back out to nine points, and it was 48-41 at the under-12 commercial. Coming back from that break, the courtside reporter mentioned that Tom Izzo was calm during the timeout, telling his team they had been here before. Practically on script, MSU then began their rally. At the under-8 break, the two teams were separated by one point. Two seconds of game play later, Carson Cooper was sent to the line, and he smoothly hit both FTs for MSU’s first lead. The Spartans and Rebels would trade baskets and the lead for the next stretch of play, and the game was square at 61 at the under-4.

Jase Richardson put his team up two with just over three to play, but Ole Miss tied it at the line. Then Jaden Akins gave MSU the lead again with 90 seconds left, and after forcing a miss on defense and getting the rebound, Cooper hit a layup to give MSU their largest lead of the game, 67-63. Ole Miss’ Sean Pedulla did his best to play hero for his team, making a couple of baskets in the final minute, but Tre Holloman matched him with four made free throws. The Rebels hit a triple at the buzzer to give us the final score of 73-70.

Tom Izzo and Chris Beard met on the sideline to shake hands, and the Spartan players celebrated another tourney win.

Let’s get to the lists, starting with the bad this time.

3 Things I Did Not Like:

1. Losing the rebound battle. This came down to hustle. With our height advantage, there is no reason this should have happened. Ole Miss outrebounded MSU 33-29 overall and 12-5 on the offensive end.

2. Lineup shuffle. I am not saying that Coen Carr does not deserve the minutes he is getting. He certainly does. But I am not sure I agree with taking Szymon Zapala out of the rotation completely. As mentioned, this was supposed to be a game we had a size advantage in. I do not get why we forfeited that before the game even started. I would have liked to have shown this opponent a different defense and offensive sets to see if that would have changed the tide of the game sooner.

3. Kohler’s bagel. I predicted that Jaxon Kohler would be our top scorer in this one. He rewarded my faith in him by not taking a single shot in this game.

3 Things I Liked:

1. Free throw shooting back on track. Yes, we did have a couple misses from guys you would expect to make them all, but MSU finished the game 19-22 from the stripe for 86.4%. That is a big improvement from the 71.4% and 67.9% they shot in the first two tournament games.

2. Everyone contributing to the scoreboard. Jase led the way with 20. After him, Izzo received contributions from Carr (15), Akins (13), and Holloman (10). Cooper, Fidler, and Fears combined for another 15 points. Kohler was the only player to not score, though he did have two blocks.

3. Halftime adjustments. This was mostly on the offensive side, as Ole Miss actually scored more in the 2nd half than they did in the 1st. But MSU improved even more, putting up 42 after the intermission; they had just 31 before halftime. While MSU was often stagnant, not getting good motion, and turning it over in the first 20 minutes of play, they looked remarkably more active and locked in in the 2nd. The Spartans had just 3 turnovers in the 2nd half, not giving the Rebels the opportunity for easy points that they were gifted in the 1st. And they were moving more, using screens, and swinging the ball around the full offensive end. Once they regularly were getting downhill and attacking the basket, MSU finally was able to take control of the game.

As I said, it was a nailbiter. I may have lost more hair watching this one. But we survived to play another game.

VICTORY FOR MSU!!!