No. 7 MSU Beats No. 10 Davidson, Will Face Duke in 2nd Round of NCAA Tournament

The seventh-seeded Michigan State Spartans defeated the 10th-seeded Davidson Wildcats 74-73 in the first round of the NCAA tournament on Friday in South Carolina to move on to the second round. 

Michigan State's win comes after it fell to Purdue in the Big Ten tournament semifinals. It was an up-and-down regular season for the Spartans, but they are led by one of the best coaches in the game in Tom Izzo.

The Wildcats put up a good fight in a back-and-forth game against the Spartans, but Michigan State was able to pull away late in the final frame thanks to a monster performance from Joey Hauser. 

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Notable Stats

Joey Hauser, MSU: 27 PTS, 8 REB, 2 AST, 1 STL, 1 BLK

Luka Brajkovic, Davidson: 18 PTS, 4 REB, 2 AST

AJ Hoggard, MSU: 14 PTS, 3 REB, 2 AST

Sam Mennenga, Davidson: 15 PTS, 5 REB, 1 AST

Gabe Brown, MSU: 12 PTS, 1 REB, 3 AST

Foster Loyer, Davidson: 12 PTS, 6 REB, 4 AST

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Joey Hauser Dominant, Provides Spark for Spartans

Much of Friday's game between the Spartans and Wildcats was back-and-forth, but through all of the madness, one MSU player remained consistent through both halves to help his team reach the second round.

Joey Hauser, a senior forward, put together his best performance of the season to help Michigan State defeat Davidson. He notched a season-high 27 points, in addition to eight rebounds and two assists on nine-of-12 shooting from the floor and four-of-six shooting from deep.

Entering Friday's game, Hauser was averaging just 6.7 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.6 assists on 43.1 percent shooting from the floor this season. 

Hauser's performance shouldn't necessarily be surprising, though. The Spartans love to play through their big men, and two of their top three scorers this season are forwards. While Hauser isn't one of the two, the team needed him to elevate his game against a Davidson team that relies heavily on its guards for offensive production.

But while Hauser had a strong performance, the Spartans will need their best players to step up in the second round against a Duke team that is trying to send head coach Mike Krzyzewski, who will retire after this season, out on a high note. 

Gabe Brown, the team's leading scorer this season, finished with just 12 points, one rebound and three assists against the Wildcats, while Max Christie finished with two points, two rebounds and one assist. 

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Davidson's Impeccable Three-Point Shooting Not Enough

Davidson has relied on its three-point shooting for the entire 2021-22 season, and even though they had a solid shooting performance from deep on Friday, it wasn't enough to beat a gritty Spartans team that took over in the final moments of the game. 

The Wildcats displayed their highly efficient offense throughout the night, making 10 of 25 shots from deep. Their three-point shooting was close to their season average of 38.4 percent from deep.

Davidson's shooting from the floor was a different story. While the team did make 46.6 percent of its shots from the field, it struggled to get simple baskets in the paint down the stretch, and that's part of the reason they lost on Friday.

In addition, if Davidson played just slightly better defense on Hauser, it could have been a much different game.

Regardless, the Wildcats' season is now over, and it's time for them to reset for the 2022-23 season in hopes of reaching the NCAA tournament for the second straight year. 

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What's Next?

The Spartans will move on to face the No. 2 Duke Blue Devils in the second round.