Joey Hauser emotional in Michigan State's victory over Marquette: 'I've been through a lot'

Columbus, OH – Michigan State senior Joey Hauser had nothing left prove before playing a critical role in his team’s 69-60 win over No. 2 seed Marquette at Nationwide Arena on Sunday to advance to The Sweet 16 in East Region of the NCAA Tournament.

Hauser has been among the most consistent players on the Spartan roster from the start of the season until now. Even so, seeing his college career end in the NCAA Tournament against the program he began his collegiate career with would have been a difficult way to go out.

For Hauser, logging a double-double and helping his team advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time since Michigan State’s Final Four run in 2019 was far more fitting. And it didn’t take Hauser long in the moments after this game to find his parents before leaving the court to celebrate with his teammates.

“It means a lot, I’ve been through a lot in my career,” said Hauser, an honorable mention All-Big Ten selection, averaging 14.3 points and 7.0 rebounds per game this season. “Obviously, I started at Marquette and got booed pretty hard when the game started. But like I said, there is no hard feelings, but beating them definitely made this moment sweet.”

This game was filled with surreal moments for Hauser, from being booed by Marquette fans to hearing his name chanted by Michigan State fans in the waning seconds of this victory.

“I was just sitting there tying my shoe,” said Hauser of the moment he began to hear chants of Joey! Joey! Joey! Joey! “I got caught up in my emotions a little bit. There was still some time left, so I definitely wanted to make sure I won the game. Definitely, when I got off the court seeing my parents, seeing my teammates excited, it hit me pretty hard.”

Hauser scored 14 points on 3-for-8 shooting. He also tied center Mady Sissoko for the team lead in rebounds with 10. Hauser has never had to work as hard to get open as he did in this game.

Marquette forward Olivier-Maxence Prosper (6-8, 230) is one of the best defensive players in the Big East. He and his Marquette teammates went all-in on trying to run Hauser off the 3-point line and limit his touches period. And when that didn’t work, Marquette defenders simply tackled the Spartan senior as he tried to come off of screens.

“Give them credit, it was a good physical defensive team,” Hauser said. “It was physical out there. We had guys make plays. If you take away me there will be opportunities for other guys. Tyson (Walker) made the most of his opportunities today. We just did a good job going elsewhere.”

To his credit, Hauser didn’t force shots or try to do too much when challenged by an elite defender in Prosper.

“That’s the kind of guy that Joey is, he is all about winning,” junior point guard AJ Hoggard said. “He is going to do anything to help us get a win, whether or not he’s getting shots. Joey would be perfectly fine with getting zero shots, and us winning the game. He is a key guy on our offense, and they took him away. He found other ways to be helpful and effective tonight.”

Hauser played the second most minutes of any Michigan State player at just under 35. Those minutes took a toll on Hauser’s body, and it took every bit of mental toughness he could muster to push himself to the finish-line, let alone make all seven of the free-throws he attempted in this game.

Two of those free throws came after a flagrant one foul called on Prosper with 8:20 remaining in the second half. Prosper threw Hauser to the ground with hard foul resembling a horse-collar tackle in football. After a lengthy video review by officials, Hauser calmly knocked down two free throws to give Michigan State a four-point cushion.

“Honestly, I don’t even know what happened,” Hauser said. “I am coming off a screen and all of a sudden my feet are above my head. I didn’t even see it on the video, but it was a big turning point. Those two free-throws were big-time. It was a big play, and everybody made big free throws down the stretch.”