Photo by: Matthew Mitchell Photography
Spartans Topple Top-Seeded Duke, Advance to Final Four for 10th Time in School History
3/31/2019 7:43:00 PM | Men's Basketball
WASHINGTON – Redshirt senior forward Kenny Goins (Troy, Mich./Warren Mott) hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 34 seconds remaining to give second-seeded Michigan State a 68-67 victory over top-seeded Duke in the East Regional Final on Sunday at Capital One Arena as the Spartans advanced to the Final Four for the 10th time in school history.
Junior guard Cassius Winston (Detroit, Mich./University of Detroit Jesuit) scored a team-high 20 points and handed out 10 assists, and sophomore forward Xavier Tillman (Grand Rapids, Mich./GR Christian) had 19 points and nine rebounds. Winston joined Magic Johnson (vs. LSU and Penn in 1979) and Draymond Green (vs. UCLA in 2011 and LIU-Brooklyn in 2012) as the only Spartans to score at least 20 points and dish out at least 10 assists in an NCAA Tournament game.
Winston was named the NCAA East Regional Most Outstanding Player after scoring 37 points and handing out 18 assists in two games. Tillman was named to the East Regional All-Tournament Team with 31 points and 17 rebounds combined in the Spartans' two wins.
With the Spartans trailing 66-65, Goins hit the game-winning 3-pointer from the top of the key, giving MSU a 68-66 advantage. Duke's RJ Barrett was fouled with five seconds remaining, but only made his second attempt, cutting the Spartan lead to 68-67. Duke fouled with four seconds left, but the Spartans weren't in the team bonus, and on the ensuing inbound pass, Winston ran out the clock, sending Michigan State back to the Final Four for the first time since 2015.
Goins finished with 10 points and nine rebounds, while senior Matt McQuaid (Duncanville, Texas/Duncanville) scored nine points for the Spartans.
Records
Michigan State improves to 32-6 on the season, while Duke finishes the 2018-19 campaign at 32-6.
Notes
Michigan State's 10 Final Four appearances (1957, 1979, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2015, 2019) are tied with Ohio State for sixth most in NCAA history…MSU head coach Tom Izzo is headed back to the Final Four for the eighth time in his career (1999, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2015, 2019), fifth all-time among NCAA coaches.
Summary
Michigan State will face West Regional Champion Texas Tech in the Final Four on Saturday, April 6 at approximately 8:49 p.m. ET in Minneapolis, Minnesota, at U.S. Bank Stadium. The game will be televised on CBS.
Junior guard Cassius Winston (Detroit, Mich./University of Detroit Jesuit) scored a team-high 20 points and handed out 10 assists, and sophomore forward Xavier Tillman (Grand Rapids, Mich./GR Christian) had 19 points and nine rebounds. Winston joined Magic Johnson (vs. LSU and Penn in 1979) and Draymond Green (vs. UCLA in 2011 and LIU-Brooklyn in 2012) as the only Spartans to score at least 20 points and dish out at least 10 assists in an NCAA Tournament game.
Winston was named the NCAA East Regional Most Outstanding Player after scoring 37 points and handing out 18 assists in two games. Tillman was named to the East Regional All-Tournament Team with 31 points and 17 rebounds combined in the Spartans' two wins.
With the Spartans trailing 66-65, Goins hit the game-winning 3-pointer from the top of the key, giving MSU a 68-66 advantage. Duke's RJ Barrett was fouled with five seconds remaining, but only made his second attempt, cutting the Spartan lead to 68-67. Duke fouled with four seconds left, but the Spartans weren't in the team bonus, and on the ensuing inbound pass, Winston ran out the clock, sending Michigan State back to the Final Four for the first time since 2015.
Goins finished with 10 points and nine rebounds, while senior Matt McQuaid (Duncanville, Texas/Duncanville) scored nine points for the Spartans.
Records
Michigan State improves to 32-6 on the season, while Duke finishes the 2018-19 campaign at 32-6.
Notes
Michigan State's 10 Final Four appearances (1957, 1979, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2015, 2019) are tied with Ohio State for sixth most in NCAA history…MSU head coach Tom Izzo is headed back to the Final Four for the eighth time in his career (1999, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2015, 2019), fifth all-time among NCAA coaches.
Summary
- MSU led 63-61 with 3:32 to go after a Tillman fast break dunk, followed by a free throw after he was fouled by Delaurier.
- Duke then answered with a 5-0 run to go up 66-63 with 1:41 remaining. Tillman trimmed the Blue Devil lead to 66-65 at the 1:17 mark before Goins made the game-winning 3-pointer with 34 seconds left.
- A Goins 3-pointer and layup from McQuaid gave MSU a 58-56 lead with 7:23 left in the game.
- Zion Williamson scored the first 10 Duke points out of the second half, cutting the MSU lead to 43-42 at the 15:10 mark.
- Winston scored four-straight points out of the timeout to start an 11-0 Michigan State run to end the half and make it 34-30 Spartans at the break.
- The Blue Devils went on a 12-0 run over 2:17 to take a 30-21 lead and force MSU to call a timeout with 5:20 left in the first.
- Duke answered with a 7-0 run out of the timeout to tie the game 16-16, but McQuaid knocked down a 3-pointer to give MSU a 19-16 lead with 9:17 remaining in the first half.
- A second-chance layup from Tillman gave MSU a seven-point lead, before RJ Barrett answered with a layup at the other end to make it 16-11.
- The Spartans took an early 10-4 lead on a jumper from Winston and layup from Ward with 15:14 left in the first half.
Michigan State will face West Regional Champion Texas Tech in the Final Four on Saturday, April 6 at approximately 8:49 p.m. ET in Minneapolis, Minnesota, at U.S. Bank Stadium. The game will be televised on CBS.
Team Stats
MSU
Duke
FG%
.429
.456
3FG%
.316
.333
FT%
.333
.615
RB
31
42
TO
7
17
STL
11
4
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
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Wednesday, April 16
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Tom Izzo | Men's Basketball Press Conference | March 16, 2025
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