BUFFALO, N.Y. – No. 3 seed Michigan State rolled past No. 14 seed North Dakota State, 92-67, in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday.

“It was one of the more complete games we’ve played, we shot the ball well… It was our big four that did the job, and we also got some points off the bench,” MSU head coach Tom Izzo said.

The Spartans’ big men had a day. It started with senior center Carson Cooper, who was a problem for the Bison in the paint. Cooper tied his career-high with 20 points, on the way to the fourth double-double of his final campaign.

North Dakota State’s lack of size was a different look for the Spartans after competing in the Big Ten, a conference that features some of the biggest teams in the nation.

“It’s different for sure, you go from watching these Big Ten teams throughout the year and you kinda know the personnel and maybe sometimes you can get away with doing as much research, but for the tournament game like this anybody can beat anybody, you gotta lock in and do the extra research,” Cooper said. 

The Spartans had three other forwards in double figures. Junior forward Coen Carr had 17, while adding to his highlight reel with a few crowd-popping finishes. Freshman Cam Ward made an impact off the bench in his first NCAA Tournament appearance, with 11 points. Meanwhile, senior Jaxon Kohler was one rebound shy of a double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds. 

Spartans guard Jeremy Fears Jr., one of the leading passers in the nation, found his forwards, showing off his distribution skills with nine assists in the first half, and finished the game with 11.

“Being able to get those guys shots is special, they did the hard part, just being able to find them in the right spots and get them the ball,” Fears Jr. said.

A key storyline this season has been the non-Fears minutes. With guard Divine Ugochukwu out for the season with a foot injury, the Spartans have relied on graduate guard Denham Wojick to provide short rotations to give Fears a break. 

Wojcik had his best spurt of the season in the first half, with a nifty finish at the rim and a floater, which is good for a season-high four points. 

“I thought Wojcik came in and did a great job, he had a couple of big baskets, he had a couple of big passes,” Izzo said.

In the final minutes with a 20-point lead, Izzo subbed in some of the reserves to get some tournament action, senior guard Nick Sanders, and the Walton twins.

“I screwed that up on senior night, and it’s very important to me,” Izzo said. “I don’t like Nick, I love Nick. The other two are younger, but Nick has done a lot for this program.” 

The Spartans advance to the Round of 32 to take on the No. 6 seed Louisville Cardinals out of the ACC. Louisville beat No. 11 seed South Florida, 83-79, right before MSU took the court.

Tip-off for the Second Round matchup on Saturday, March 21, remains TBA, but catch the radio broadcast with Jack Stager and Joe Dez on the call for Impact 89 FM.