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V-Cast: Depth the difference for Michigan State in advancing past New Mexico to Sweet 16

On3 imageby:Paul Konyndyk•03/24/25•

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CLEVELAND – Michigan State (29-6) advanced to the Sweet 16 for the second time in the past three years and the 16th time during Tom Izzo’s Hall of Fame career with a 71-63 win over Mountain West Champion New Mexico on Sunday night at Rocket Arena. The Lobos, however, gave the Spartans a difficult test in the Round of 32, and without big games from Jaden Akins, Tre Holloman, and Frankie Fidler the Spartans might have suffered an upset.

After the win, SpartanMag staffers Jim Comparoni and Paul Konyndyk checked in from Rocket Arena with the latest V-Cast.

V-CAST TOPICS

Off Night for Richardson: Michigan State freshman Jase Richardson had reached double figures in scoring in 12 straight games before hitting a speed bump in Sunday’s game against New Mexico. Richardson, who is averaging 12.1 points per game while shooting 51 percent on the year, managed just 1-for-10 shooting New Mexico. Richardson did not take any bad shots against the Lobos. Spartan players and coaches alike viewed his performance as an anomaly, as Richardson has been as consistent as any player in a Spartan uniform during the last third of the season. To his credit, Richardson continued to play hard and managed to score six points in the closing minutes of the game. The Spartans needed all of them in a game decided by less than 10 points.

Fidler and Zapala step up: One game after playing just three minutes due to guard and wing-sized line-up of Bryant in the Round of 64, Michigan State received a strong performance from starting center Szymon Zapala. Although he played just 11 minutes against New Mexico, each of those minutes were good ones. In a challenging match-up against veteran Nigerian-born center Nelly Joseph, Zapala held his own on both ends of the floor. His putback bucket on the opening offensive possession of the second half was a tone-setter for Michigan State.

Fastbreak offense big factor in Spartan win: New Mexico and Michigan State were both among the best fastbreak teams in college basketball this season, making the transition game a key battleground for both teams. On a night when threes didn’t fall with regularity for Michigan State, the Spartans needed every point they could muster from other sources including the fastbreak, where the Spartans had a 17-3 advantage. Michigan State’s fastbreak was stuck in neutral until the midway point of the first half. For the first 11 minutes of this game, the Spartans struggled to get the stops and defensive rebounds they needed to fire up the fastbreak. But even when the fastbreak wasn’t producing points, the Spartans were effective containing New Mexico’s potent fastbreak defensively.

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