ATLANTA — It is fair to say Michigan State has evolved, and then some, since its first trip to Atlanta in November.
Then unranked, the Spartans fell to No. 1 Kansas in the Champions Classic in its first marquee game of the season.
More than four months later, second-seeded Michigan State (29-6) is back at State Farm Arena with a revamped lineup on Friday when it faces No. 6 seeded Ole Miss (24-11) in the first South Region semifinal of the NCAA Tournament.
“I’ve learned a lot about my team since then,” Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo said. “I made no bones about it in our first meeting we had with everybody, that I thought we could be a good team, but I didn’t know how good. … Now that we’re here, I can see why we got here. We’ve been as consistent as many of the teams that I’ve ever had.”
Since that first loss of the season on Nov. 12, Izzo has tweaked the starting five, flipping Xavier Booker for Jaxon Kohler and Frankie Fidler for Jase Richardson. The change has helped the program reach its most wins since the 2018-19 season, which is the last time Michigan State advanced past the Sweet 16.
Before the Spartans can look down the road, Izzo knows that his team has its hands full with hot-shooting Ole Miss.
“The team is shooting 49 percent from (3-point range) in the NCAA Tournament, which is incredible,” Izzo said of the Rebels. “We’ve got our work cut out for us. It’s a good team that I think has gotten better as the year has gone on, and I know that they’ll be well coached and well prepared.”
Michigan State has struggled from beyond the arc at 31.0 percent, which ranked last in the Big Ten.
Spartans leading scorer Jaden Akins has averaged 13.5 points in Michigan State’s first two NCAA Tournament games. Tre Holloman has delivered 14 points off the bench in each of the first two games to pace the Spartans’ scoring.
The Ole Miss basketball program is in uncharted territory – in the best way possible.
The Rebels, after all, are playing in just their second Sweet 16.
After holding on for a seven-point win over North Carolina, Ole Miss earned an emphatic 91-78 win over Iowa State in the second round. The Rebels shot a robust 58.2 percent from the field and 11 of 19 from 3-point range.
Now, Ole Miss will have to take down one of the sport’s most consistent programs and a Hall of Fame coach.
“Whenever you have a chance to compete against the best, it’s a massive opportunity for your program,” Rebels head coach Chris Beard said. “I think coach (Izzo) is one of the best that’s ever done this. He’s on my Mount Rushmore. … It’s a challenge, but we’re looking forward to it. We’ll have to play our best game of the year, period. I’m confident our guys understand that, and if we can play well, it should be a classic March basketball game.”
Sean Pedulla brings a 15.2 points-per-game average into Friday’s contest, along with 83 made 3-pointers. Pedulla scored 20 points in each game thus far in the tournament.
–Jack Batten, Field Level Media
