No. 3 Seed Spartans Overwhelm No. 14 Seed North Dakota State in NCAA Tournament First Round, 92-67

Thursday, March 19

Buffalo, N.Y.

4:05 P.M.

Michigan State University

26-7,15-5Big Ten

(14) North Dakota State

27-8,14-2Summit League

North Dakota St.

Michigan St.

Photo by: Matthew Mitchell Photography

No. 3 Seed Spartans Overwhelm No. 14 Seed North Dakota State in NCAA Tournament First Round, 92-67

3/19/2026 6:48:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Gamebook Michigan State vs NDSU NCAAT March 19, 2026 Michigan State 92, North Dakota State 67 Press Conference Quotes MSU NDSU

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Senior center Carson Cooper tied his career-high with 20 points as No. 3 seed Michigan State defeated No. 14 seed North Dakota State, 92-67, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday afternoon at KeyBank Center.

Cooper hit 7-of-9 shots from the floor and all six free throws while grabbing a team-high 10 rebounds to lead four players in double figures.

Junior forward Coen Carr scored 17 points and grabbed four rebounds, while senior forward Jaxon Kohler scored 12 points and grabbed nine rebounds and freshman forward Cam Ward chipped in 11 points. Redshirt sophomore Jeremy Fears Jr. scored seven points and handed out a game-high 11 assists.

Records
Michigan State 26-7 overall record while North Dakota State concludes its season with a 27-8 record.

Recap

Michigan State led by 20 points (45-25) at the break and used an 11-4 run over the opening 3:07 of the second half to take a 27-point lead, 56-29, on a 3-pointer from freshman forward Jordan Scott at 16:53.
The Spartans took their biggest lead of the game, 28 points (61-33), on a 3-pointer from Fears with 15:12 to play in the game.
NDSU pulled to within 20 points, 69-49, before Kohler (9:58) and Scott (9:07) hit 3-pointers and a free throw from Ward pushed the MSU lead back to 25 points, 76-51, with 8:17 left.
The Bison pulled to within 16 points, 77-61, after free throws from Damari Wheeler-Thomas, but Carr scored on a tip-in and followed with a 3-pointers from the corner as the lead grew back to 82-61 with 3:29 left to play.
Michigan State jumped out to a 20-point lead at the half, 45-25, with Cooper leading the way with 14 points, while Fears had nine assists.
After MSU took a 5-4 lead on a 3-pointer from Kohler, North Dakota State jumped ahead 8-5 on a layup from Markhi Strickland at 16:42.
The Spartans responded with a 9-0 over 2:52 and took a 14-8 lead on back-to-back baskets from freshman forward Cam Ward, the second a dunk at 13:25.
That was part of an 18-2 run over 5:15 as a layup from graduate guard Denham Wojick pushed the margin to 13 points, 23-10, at 11:38.
The Bison cut the lead to seven points, 23-16, after back-to-back 3-pointers, the second from Tay Smith at 10:07.
MSU used a 12-2 run over 4:32 to take a 35-18 lead on free throws from Cooper with 5:07 to play and two more free throws from Cooper (2:04) gave MSU a 43-23 lead.
A jumper from junior forward Coen Carr with 48 seconds left sent the Spartans to the break with a 45-25 edge.

Key Stats

Michigan State shot 58.9 percent from the floor (33-of-56), including 63.0 percent in the second half (17-of-27).
The Spartans connected on 50.0 percent of their 3-pointers (10-of-20), including 60.0 percent in the second half (6-of-10).
Michigan State handed out 26 assists on 33 made field goals (78.8 assist rate)
MSU out-rebounded North Dakota State, 35-23 and outscored the Bison, 44-34, in the paint.
The Spartans scored 15 points on the fast break.
MSU's bench scored 30 points.

Notes

Since the field expanded in 1985, the Spartans are now 27-8 in opening games, including 27-7 in the round of 64.
Tom Izzo is now 22-5 in the round of 64 and improves to 60-26 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
MSU improves to 77-37 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
Izzo's career record is now 763-309 in his 31st year at the helm of the MSU program.
Michigan State's 92 points tied for the second most this season (114 vs. Cornell on Dec. 29; 92 vs. Toledo on Dec. 16).
- It also marked the sixth-most points in an NCAA Tournament game by the Spartans.
- The Spartans are 15-2 when scoring more than 80 points this year.
Michigan State recorded 26 assists, its most ever in an NCAA Tournament game and the tied for the second most this season (30 vs. Cornell on Dec. 29; 26 vs. Toledo on Dec. 16).
- It was the 11th game this season with at least 20 assists.
MSU has a 5-1 record on neutral floors this year
The Spartans are 19-1 when leading at the half.
MSU shot 58.9 percent from the field, its second-best mark of the season (.607 vs. Maryland on Jan. 24).
- The Spartans have a 14-0 record when shooting above 50.0 percent from the floor and are 24-1 when out-shooting their opponent.
MSU out-rebounded the Bison, 35-23, the 28th time controlling the boards (25-3).
The Spartans are 3-2 in March, 6-0 in games played on Thursday and 9-2 in day games.
Cooper tied his career high with 20 points; he also had 20 points against Ohio State on Feb. 22.
- This was his second career game with at least 20 points.
- He has scored in double figures 19 times this year.
- This was his seventh time leading the team in scoring (seventh career).
- He has grabbed at least 10 rebounds five times this year (eight career).
- This was his fourth double-double of the season (fourth career)>
Jeremy Fears Jr. scored seven points and handed out a game-high 11 assists.
- Fears had a streak of 20-straight games in double figures end.
- He handed out 11 assists, the 14th time this season with at least 10.
- Fears has led the team in assists 33 times this year and 55 for his career.
- His 11 assists pushed his season total to 305 the most in a single season in MSU history … He extended his single-season school record and is now the first player in MSU history with at least 300 assists in a season.
Coen Carr scored 17 points and grabbed four rebounds.
- This was his 19th game in double figures this year and the 33rd of his career.
Jaxon Kohler scored 12 points and grabbed nine rebounds.
- This was Kohler's 24th game in double figures this year (35 career).
- He now has 850 career points.
Cam Ward scored 13 points off the bench, his third game in double figures this year (third career).

Up Next
Michigan State will face No. 6 seed Louisville (24-10) in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday (time, TV network TBA). The Cardinals topped No. 11 seed South Florida in the first round, 83-79