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V-Cast: The latest from Cleveland, and final thoughts on Michigan State vs. Bryant matchup

On3 imageby:Paul Konyndyk•03/20/25•

PKonyndyk

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CLEVELAND – Michigan State players are chomping at the bit to get their NCAA Tournament underway in a potentially tricky match-up with No. 15 seed Bryant at Rocket Arena on Friday Night. After interviews and open practice on Thursday, SpartanMag staffers Jim Comparoni and Paul Konyndyk checked in from the court at the home of the Cleveland Cavaliers with the NCAA Tournament game preview V-Cast.

Will Michigan State be too amped up for this game? The Spartans are well-rested coming off a semifinal loss to Wisconsin in the Big Ten Tournament and eager for NCAA Tournament play. Before practice on Thursday, Spartan point guard Jeremy Fears indicated that he was ready to play and wished he could have faced Bryant on Thursday. That may not be the consensus in the Michigan State locker room, but Spartan players can’t wait to take the court. That begs the question of whether Michigan State will be too riled up to play this game at a high level. That is a distinct possibility. Playing as late as Michigan State is on Friday night isn’t ideal.

Rebounding could decide this game: How well the Spartans rebound in this game could easily determine the outcome of this Round of 64 match-up. Bryant is a rare four-to-the-boards team. The Bulldogs don’t do it all the time, but they do crash the glass, and the Spartans need to be the better rebounding team to prevent Bryant from hanging around. The Spartans have played just one team this year that goes four to the boards in Illinois and Michigan State beat the Fighting Illini in both of those games. Bryant is far better rebounding team than typical of most America East Conference teams. The Bulldogs have good athleticism and big guards and wings. Those guards and wings get after it on the glass. Michigan State needs to do the same thing. Guard rebounding is very important in this game. The Spartans have gotten good rebounding from their guards in several games this season, but this may be the most important.

How will Michigan State handle small line-up? Bryant is a team that can play with a somewhat traditionally sized lineup but also plays smaller than most teams Michigan State has played this season. If Bryant does play small, the Spartans may have trouble keeping Jaxon Kohler on the floor. If that is the case, the Spartans may find it difficult to run up the rebounding margin that they would like to have to make this game more manageable. If Bryant were to play with a small line-up, Michigan State needs to get quality minutes on both ends of the floor from both Coen Carr and Frankie Fidler. Cooper gives Michigan State some flexibility given his versatility on defense.

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