Michigan State Meets Louisville on Saturday Afternoon in Second Round of the NCAA Tournament

Photo by: Matthew Mitchell Photography

Michigan State Meets Louisville on Saturday Afternoon in Second Round of the NCAA Tournament

3/20/2026 12:37:00 PM | Men's Basketball

BUFFALO, N.Y. – No. 3 seed Michigan State plays No. 6 seed Louisville on Saturday, March 21 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament (East Region) at Key Bank Center (2:45 p.m.). MSU advanced to the second round with a 92-67 win over North Dakota State on Thursday, as senior center Carson Cooper scored 20 points and had 10 rebounds to lead four players in double figures.

Saturday afternoon's game will air live on CBS, with Brian Anderson, Jim Jackson and Allie LaForce calling all of the action. The Spartan Media Network radio call can be heard state-wide, with Will Tieman handling the play-by-play, Matt Steigenga serving as the color analyst and Zach Surdenik as the studio host. The game can also be heard on channels 203 or 210 on SiriusXM or on the SiriusXM app.

About the Spartans

Michigan State enters Saturday's NCAA Tournament with a 26-7 overall record (15-5 in the Big Ten Conference).
This is the 12th time in the last 14 tournaments MSU has reached the second round and the 16th in the last 19.
Since 1998, the Spartans are 16-5 in their second NCAA Tournament game.
The Spartans are No. 11 in the latest Associated Press and ESPN Coaches polls (March 16).
MSU is No. 11 in the NCAA Net Rankings and No. 9 per KenPom.
Through 33 games, MSU has four players scoring in double figures and eight averaging at least 5.0 ppg.
MSU's captains (Carson Cooper, Jaxon Kohler, Coen Carr and Jeremy Fears Jr.) have combined for 64.0% of the team's scoring (1,676 of 2,618 points) and average 50.68 ppg, 23.9 rpg and 13.3 assists.
Fears, who leads the team with 32.2 minutes played, leads the team with 15.4 ppg and is handing out 9.2 assists per game, tops in the nation ... His 305 total assists rank No. 2 in the country ... When he handed out 13 in the Big Ten Tournament vs. UCLA, he moved past Cassius Winston (291, 2018-19) for the single-season record at Michigan State ... He handed out 11 in the win over North Dakota State, becoming the first MSU player ever to hand out 300 or more assists in one season.
Kohler is second on the team in scoring with 12.6 ppg and tops the team with 9.0 rpg (3rd B1G, #33 nationally) ... Kohler ranks No. 28 nationally with 12 double-doubles this season & has scored in double figures 24 times ... His 9.0 rebounds are the most since Xavier Tillman Sr. had 10.3 in 2019-20.
Carr, one of the most athletic players in all of college basketball, is third on the team with 11.7 ppg, third on the team with 5.3 rpg and 1.3 apg in 29.0 mpg.
Cooper, who had 16 points and a career-best 16 rebounds vs. Duke and tied his career-high with 20 points against North Dakota State while adding 10 rebounds for his fourth double-double, is playing a career-high 26.5 mpg, is fourth on the team with 11.0 ppg and second with 7.2 rpg, 10th in the B1G … He has scored in double figures 20 times.
Jordan Scott is averaging 5.9 ppg and 3.1 rpg in 20.8 mpg (with 7.4 ppg and 2.9 rpg in 22.9 mpg in B1G play) and Cam Ward is averaging 5.3 ppg and is fourth on the team with 4.2 rpg.
Kur Teng, who scored a career-high 18 points at Indiana, is averaging 7.5 ppg and 2.0 rpg, while senior guard Trey Fort is tallying 3.9 ppg in 10.1 mpg, redshirt freshman Jesse McCulloch is averaging 2.4 ppg and 1.3 rpg and senior guard Denham Wojcik averages 1.2 assists in 5.7 minutes.
Divine Ugochukwu, out for the season with a left foot injury, averaged 5.1 ppg, 1.5 rpg and 1.6 apg in 16.9 mpg in 22 games.

MSU in the Round of 32

Since the NCAA Tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985, Michigan State has advanced to the round of 32 on 27 occasions.
MSU has an 18-8 record in round of 32 games since 1985, including 16-5 under Tom Izzo.

MSU in the NCAA Tournament

Michigan State is making its 39th appearance in the NCAA Tournament with a record of 77-37 (.675) in its previous 38 tournaments.
MSU has made 10 trips to the Final Four (1957, 1979, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2015, 2019) and captured the NCAA Championship in 1979 and 2000.
MSU's .675 winning percentage is the ninth-best all-time in NCAA Tournament play, while the program's 77 total victories rank sixth all-time.
Michigan State's 10 Final Four appearances are tied for sixth most ... MSU's 39 tournament appearances are tied for the ninth-most all-time.

IZZO'S NCAA Streak

Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo is making his 28th-straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
It's the longest streak in Division I men's basketball history, ranking ahead of Gonzaga's Mark Few (26, active), Duke's Mike Krzyzewski (24) and North Carolina's Dean Smith (23).
Izzo's 28 tournament appearances rank tied for fifth-most all-time, and are second among active coaches behind only Rick Barnes (30, Tennessee, Texas, Clemson, Providence).

Quick Turnaround Success

Michigan State's deep NCAA Tournament runs can be attributed to its success with quick turnarounds.
Under Tom Izzo, the Spartans are a remarkable 25-9 in the second game of an NCAA Tournament weekend.
Seven of the nine losses have come to No. 1 seeds or eventual National Champions.

About Louisville

Louisville is making its fourth appearance as a No. 6 seed in the NCAA Tournament, and this is the Cardinals' 41st overall appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
UofL is 7-3 all-time as a No. 6 seed, and have advanced to the Elite 8 (1997), Sweet 16 (1996) and second round (2007).
Louisville enters Saturday's game with a 24-10 overall record.
Sixth-seeded UofL posted an 83-79 win over South Florida on Thursday afternoon in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament ... The Cardinals led by 10 points (37-27) at halftime and led by 23 points near the mid-point of the second half before holding on for the win.
Isaac McKneely led four players in double figures with 23 points ... Ryan Conwell had 18 points and six assists, Sananda Fru had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds and J'Vonne Hadley added 10 points and five rebounds.

Series History

Michigan State and Louisville will square off for the fifth time in the NCAA Tournament.
In the last meeting in the 2015 East Regional Finals, the Spartans won, 76-70 in OT, as MSU advanced to the Final Four.
A second round meeting between MSU and UofL will be the earliest meeting in the NCAA Tournament, having met in three Regional Finals in 1959, 2009 and 2015, and one Regional Semifinal, in 2012.
The Spartans and Cardinals are 2-2 in the four previous NCAA Tournament meetings, alternating with an MSU loss in 1959, a win in 2009, a loss in 2012 and a win in 2015.
Overall, a MSU vs. UofL match-up on Saturday will be the 13th all-time meeting on the hardwood, with the Spartans winning three of the last four meetings, and the all-time series tied at 6-6.