Three takeaways from Michigan State basketball's win over Bryant in the NCAA Tournament
Once again, Michigan State basketball was able to pull away from a team in a big way when they took down a scrappy Bryant team in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday night. After heading into halftime with just a five point lead over the Bulldogs, MSU outscored Bryant by 20 points in the second half to comfortably advance to the Round of 32 on Sunday, where they will face the New Mexico Lobos.
Below, we put together our three key takeaways from MSU's opening win of the NCAA Tournament:
No. 1: Underestimate Coen Carr at your own peril
A few days ago, the Barstool Bryant X.com account asked a simple question: 'We're supposed to be worried about a 6'5" forward that averages 8-3?'.
Well, Coen Carr ended up setting a career-high in scoring with 18 points, leading MSU to a blowout win over Bryant, forcing Barstool Bryant to eat their words in hilarious fashion.
We have seen the steady growth from Carr all year, and it culminated with his performance against Bryant. Carr's defense and rebounding (he had nine against the Bulldogs) has been otherworldly of late, and he flexed his athleticism and scoring skills against Bryant, a great sign for the rest of the tournament.
No. 2: Tre Holloman is the calming presence on this team
Bryant gave MSU a nice punch to the jaw to open the game, holding a few leads and playing the Spartans close. Bryant used a zone defense, something that has been a nuisance for this MSU team all year and were creating turnovers and making the Spartans look frazzled. Then, Tre Holloman came in, and it looked like the Spartans took a collective deep breath and finally calmed down.
Holloman went 4-5 from three and scored 14 points in the win, but even more importantly, he didn't turn the ball over a single time and helped clean up a lot of the early mistakes that were plaguing the Spartans, something he's done a great job with all year when teams are able to effectively pressure MSU using a zone or press defense.
No. 3: If it ain't broke, don't fix it
At the end of the day, this Michigan State win looked like a lot of their wins this year:
The game was close at halftime, but MSU's relentless defense, rebounding, and transition offense, along with their willingness to utilize their bench, and the always steady, lethal scoring from Jase Richardson, eventually wore down Bryant and the Spartans surged past the Bulldogs in the second half.
This is the winning formula MSU has used all year. While it might be stressful for fans in the first half, where this Michigan State team is routinely behind or in close games at halftime, this is the identity of this team and it simply works for them. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Michigan state news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Andrew Brewster on Twitter @IAmBrewster.
This article originally appeared on Spartans Wire: Three takeaways from Michigan State's NCAA Tournament win over Bryant
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