Spartans Headed Back to Sweet 16 After Defeating Louisville, 77-69, in NCAA Tournament Second Round

Saturday, March 21

Buffalo, N.Y.

2:45 p.m.

Michigan State University

27-7,15-5Big Ten

(6) Louisville

24-11,11-7ACC

Louisville

Michigan St.

Spartans Headed Back to Sweet 16 After Defeating Louisville, 77-69, in NCAA Tournament Second Round

3/21/2026 5:29:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Led by a Spartan NCAA Tournament record 16 assists from redshirt sophomore point guard Jeremy Fears Jr. and 21 points from junior forward Coen Carr, third-seeded Michigan State topped sixth-seeded Louisville, 77-69, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday afternoon at the KeyBank Center.

With the win, Michigan State is headed to the Sweet 16 for the second year in a row and the 17th time overall under Hall of Fame Coach Tom Izzo. The Spartans will face the winner of No. 2 seed UConn/No. 7 seed UCLA on Friday, March 27 in the East Regional semifinal in Washington, D.C.

Fears' 16 assists surpassed Magic Johnson's previous record of 14 assists against Western Kentucky on March 16, 1978. Fears also scored 12 points and had three rebounds.

"This is point guard university," Fears told CBS after the game. "I'm just trying to keep it going. But overall, it's my teammates. My teammates are making the shots, they're doing the hard part – I'm just giving them the ball."

Carr was electric with three dunks and two 3-pointers among his 21 points, his career high in an NCAA Tournament game. He also had a double-double with a game-high 10 rebounds and was 8-of-13 shooting overall along with two blocks.

Four Spartans scored in double-figures, as senior guard Trey Fort tallied 12 points with three 3-pointers and senior forward Jaxon Kohler chipped in 10 points with six rebounds.

Records
MSU improves to 27-7, while Louisville finishes the season 24-11.

Recap

MSU led by five points (36-31) at the break and were ahead by just three points, 50-47, after a 3-pointer from Louisville's Aly Khalifa before going on a 13-3 run over 5:05, taking a 63-50 lead on a 3-pointer from Kohler with 6:40 left.
Carr hit a 3-pointer, his second of the game, with 4:46 left to put MSU back on top by 13 points, 66-53.
Carr's two free throws at the 2:41 mark gave the Spartans a 68-56 advantage with 2:28 remaining.
Louisville cut the lead to 75-69 with just 11 seconds left, but Fears' 16th assist of the game, this time to Carson Cooper for a dunk, capped off the win and made the final 77-69.
Michigan State led at the half by five points (36-31) and used a 6-2 run over the opening 1:40 of the second half to push the lead to 42-33 after back-to-back dunks from Carr, the latter at 18:20 forcing Louisville to call a timeout.
The Cardinals pulled to within five points, 42-37, after a basket from Sananda Fu and within 44-40 before a free throw from sophomore guard Kur Teng (14:31) and a 3-pointer from Fort (11:17) pushed the lead back to 48-40.
MSU still led 50-43 after a jumper from Fears at 13:08 before the Cardinals pulled to within 50-47, settling up the final minutes.
The Spartans went into the break with a 36-31 lead, with eight different players scoring and Carr leading the way with seven points.
Louisville jumped on top with a pair of baskets and led 7-5 before an 9-0 MSU run over 1:33, capped by a 3-pointer from Teng at 14:24, gave the Spartans a 14-7 lead.
Rodgers hit a pair of free throws at 13:45 to narrow the gap to 14-12, but MSU responded with an 8-0 run over 3:02, taking a 22-12 lead on a 3-pointer at the buzzer from Cooper.
The Cardinals would cut the lead to 24-19 before Tent hit another trey, pushing the MSU lead to 27-19 with 7:33 left.
A four-point play from senior guard Trey Fort gave the Spartans a 31-23 lead with 3:46 to play and Fears hit a 3-pointer to give MSU a 36-28 lead with 2:17 to play.
Louisville scored the final three points of the half to make it 36-31 at the break.

Notes

Michigan State now has a 3-2 edge against Louisville in NCAA Tournament games. Izzo is 3-1 against the Cardinals in the NCAA Tournament.
Izzo is now 61-26 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
The Spartans now have an all-time record of 78-37 in NCAA Tournament games.
Since 1998, the Spartans are 17-5 in their second NCAA Tournament game.
This will be MSU's 19th trip to the Sweet 16 since the NCAA Tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985, including the 17th under Izzo.
Under Izzo, the Spartans are now a remarkable 26-9 in the second round of an NCAA Tournament weekend.

Up Next
The Spartans will face the winner of No. 2 seed UConn/No. 7 seed UCLA on Friday, March 27 in the East Regional semifinal in Washington, D.C.