Northern Iowa (30-4) vs. Michigan State (26-8)
Friday, March 26th, 9:37 p.m. (et)
FACTS & STATS: Site: Edward Jones Dome (39,647) -- St. Louis, Missouri. Television: CBS. NCAA Tournament Record: UNI 3-5, MSU 50-22. Series Record: First-ever meeting.
GAME NOTES: Making their first-ever Sweet 16 appearance, the ninth-seeded Northern Iowa Panthers take on the fifth-seeded Michigan State Spartans tonight in the NCAA Tournament's Midwest Regional at the Edward Jones Dome. The victor will move on to the regional finals on Sunday against the winner of the Ohio State/Tennessee matchup.
The Panthers shook up the NCAA Tournament last Saturday, as they knocked off the No.1 overall seed in the event with a 69-67 decision over Kansas on Saturday. UNI, which pulled out a late 69-66 win over UNLV in the first round, hadn't won an NCAA Tournament game in 20 years prior to this year's run. The Panthers, carrying their highest seed ever in this event, have now won a school-record 30 games on their way to the program's first-ever Sweet 16 appearance.
The Spartans meanwhile, are in familiar territory, as they are appearing in the Sweet 16 for the ninth time in 13 seasons. MSU is 6-2 in the Sweet 16 under head coach Tom Izzo and that includes wins in six of its last seven bouts in this round. Getting to this stage wasn't easy however, as the Spartans had to hold off 12th-seeded New Mexico State (70-67) in the first round before pulling out a dramatic 85-83 win over fourth-seeded Maryland on Sunday.
Tonight's game marks the first-ever meeting between MSU and UNI on the hardwood.
Timely shooting and tough defense lifted UNI to the major upset of Kansas, as the Panther drained nine three-pointers and limited the Jayhawks' potent attack to just 67 points in the win. With the Panthers hanging onto a one- point lead, Ali Farokhmanesh calmly drained a three-pointer with 35 seconds left to prevent a comeback, while UNI forced 15 Kansas turnovers. Farokhmanesh, who finished with 16 points, has proven too be one of the most clutch shooters in the tourney, as he also hit the game-winning trey with 4.9 seconds remaining against UNLV in the first round. Jordan Eglseder added 14 points and five boards in the win over Kansas, and the seven-foot center paces UNI with 12.0 ppg and 7.3 rpg for the season. Adam Koch and Kwadzo Ahelegbe check in with 11.6 and 10.6 ppg, respectively, for UNI, which ranks second in the nation in scoring defense (55.0 ppg).
Replacing injured star Kalin Lucas, Korie Lucious drained a three-pointer at the buzzer, giving the Spartans a dramatic 85-83 win over Maryland. Lucious took over after Lucas went down with a foot injury and he finished with 13 points for MSU, which had blown a 16-point second-half advantage. Unfortunately, the win was bittersweet, as Lucas has a ruptured Achilles tendon in his left foot and will miss the remainder of the tournament. That is not only a big loss due to the fact Lucas leads the team in scoring (14.8 ppg) and assists (4.0 apg), but because he is also the team's leader. Durrell Summers is one player who will be asked to pick up the slack and he did so against Maryland, matching his career-high with 26 points. He had 40 points through the first two rounds and is now averaging 10.7 ppg for the season. With Lucas out, that leaves Raymar Morgan as the team's top scorer at 11.6 ppg, and he had 17 points and nine boards in the win over Maryland. Draymond Green, a reserve that can do it all, should also see an increase in time and he turns in 9.8 ppg, 8.1 rpg and 3.1 apg for the season.
The Spartans are going to be without their top player, so that obviously hurts and gives the Panthers an even better chance. Still, MSU matches up pretty well with UNI and should prevail late in what will likely be a defensive battle tonight.
Predicted Outcome: Michigan State 65, Northern Iowa 62
