Michigan State Spartans: 19-14, 10-8 in the Big Ten
Head coach: Tom Izzo (22nd season)
Players to watch: Miles Bridges (16.7 PPG, 8.3 RPG); Nick Ward (13.7 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 58.3 FG%)
Season recap: There were high expectations entering the season for Michigan State, which was ranked No. 12 in the preseason, but those quickly evaporated when the Spartans lost five nonconference games, including an ugly defeat against Northeastern Dec. 18 and a 78-69 loss against Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Michigan State put the pieces together to finish better than .500 in conference play, led by its freshman frontcourt of Miles Bridges and Nick Ward and a deep nine-man rotation that has eight players averaging between 18 and 24 minutes per game. But the Spartans' only real perimeter scoring threat, Eron Harris, tore his ACL Feb. 18 during a loss to Purdue to end his career, and the team has not been the same without him.
Michigan State dropped three of its last four games—all to unranked opponents—a stretch that concluded with a quarterfinal loss in the Big Ten tournament against a Minnesota team it swept during the regular season. Aside from their two freshman forwards, no Spartan player is averaging more than seven points per game. Reserve guard Cassius Winston is second in the Big Ten in assists with 5.1 per game, but neither he nor starting point guard Lourawls "Tum Tum" Nairn Jr. are strong scorers.
How they make a run: Michigan State gets matched up against a couple of undersized opponents and feed Bridges and Ward inside constantly on its way to a surprise trip to the tournament's second weekend.
How they falter: Without Harris to spread the floor, the Spartans go through long scoring droughts with opponents packing it in defensively, sending Michigan State to a first-round exit.
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