Markquis Nowell 'not really focused' on Michigan State's success against star point guards

Michigan State made a statement during the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament on the defensive end. The Spartans made life hard on a handful of star players at USC and Marquette in their wins. However, Markquis Nowell has no intention of letting Kansas State’s next opponent dictate how he plays.

Nowell shared his determination to play well ahead of the Wildcat’s Sweet 16 matchup tonight in New York. He said he is going to decide how this game is going to go thanks to his experience competing in the Big 12 this season. In the end, though, his only focus is winning tonight against the Spartans and advancing to the Elite Eight.

“I determine how the game is going to go. I’m not really focused on what they did in the past versus other good point guards,” Nowell said. “I played in the toughest league in the country, which is the Big 12. You have all types of Hall of Fame coaches that scouted me and tried to stop me. So I don’t think that’s going to be an issue.”

“This game is going to be the Kansas State Wildcats versus Michigan State. I’m going to do whatever it takes to win a basketball game,” said Nowell.

To open the tournament, Michigan State held USC’s Boogie Ellis to one of the lowest-scoring outputs of his season. The Trojan’s lead guard finished with six points, as many turnovers as he had field goals, and five fouls.

In the Round of 32, they then did the exact same thing against Marquette’s engine in Tyler Kolek. He finished with just seven points and four fouls. On top of that, he had triple the amount of turnovers as he did field goals as he had just two made buckets compared to six of the Golden Eagle’s 16 turnovers.

However, Nowell is on a different level than those two, especially during this postseason. The third-team All-American averaged 17.1 points per game and the second-most assists in the nation with 7.8. He was even more electric, though, in K-State’s wins over Montana State and Kentucky. In the pair of contests, Nowell averaged 22 points, 11.5 assists, and three steals on 54.2% shooting from the field and 43.8% from three.

Michigan State’s defense, specifically from their backcourt, has been vital to their postseason run so far. Even so, Tyson Walker, AJ Hoggard, and the rest of the Spartans are going to have to take it up a notch against Nowell who’s arguably the best they’ve faced yet, is playing in his hometown, and is motivated to show out again in The Mecca.