CLEVELAND– Spartans sophomore forward Coen Carr scored a career-high 18 points, leading to an 87-62 victory over the 15-seed Bryant Bulldogs in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament.
“Coen ignited us on offense, especially when things weren’t going our way,” MSU redshirt freshman Jeremy Fears Jr. said. “He got a lot of offensive rebounds, tip dunks, fouls, he was just a big piece in getting this win today.”
After a relatively close first half, the Spartans’ offense exploded in the final frame, scoring 54 points, to pull away from the Bulldogs for a 25-point statement win.
Points were tough to come by for the Spartans in the first half. Besides Carr, who scored 15 of the Spartans’ 33 first-half points, no other player for the Green and White scored more than four.
“They came out and punched us right in the mouth, hit some shots early, got some rebounds, and turned us over,” MSU head coach Tom Izzo said.
Bryant head coach Phil Martelli Jr. switched up defensive looks for most of the game, giving the Spartans a heavy dosage of the 2-3 zone and man-to-man coverage. This took some time for the Spartans to adjust.
“We’ve been working on a lot of zone lately, in these past few weeks and I feel like that’s helped,” Carr said. “They put me in the middle because they trust me to make the right play down there.”
MSU freshman guard Jase Richardson took a while to get going but found the bottom of the net often in the second half.
“Then, Jase finally looked at the basket and made a few shots,” Izzo said.
Richardson finished the game as one of six Spartans in double figures, scoring 15 points.
The size and athleticism of the Spartans was too much for Bryant to handle. MSU acquired 21 offensive rebounds, which was the most by Izzo’s squad since 2018.
“I think our bigs and Coen did a great job of going to the glass and getting those second-chance points for us,” Richardson said. “I felt like that’s a big part of our game because it gives us more chances to get buckets.”
The Spartans will face off against 10-seed New Mexico in the Round of 32 on Sunday at 8:40 p.m.
