Lansing State Journal columnist Graham Couch gives his initial thoughts on MSU’s overtime loss to Kansas State in the Sweet 16 with 3 quick takes
If Michigan State’s win over Marquette felt like a regional final, that 45-minute bout against Kansas State in the Sweet 16 Thursday night felt like something that belonged in a Final Four. Given the game that unfolded, the performances on display, that might have been for a trip to the Final Four. It’s hard to imagine a better team on the other side of the East Regional draw than those two.
The Spartans were good enough to win. Close enough to feel heartbroken. But they were not the better team. Kansas State was the best team MSU had faced all season, with the best player it had seen all season in Markquis Nowell, whose dazzling performance — the latter stages on what appeared to be a sprained ankle — was just enough to carry the Wildcats to a 98-93 win in overtime.
MSU will wish it had the final possession to do over again. Trailing by three, it never got off a shot, with Nowell coming away with the loose ball and scoring his final bucket at the buzzer.
This was an incredible college basketball game. The Spartans, like against Marquette last Sunday, took their game to another level. The game required it. Third-seeded Kansas State met them there. Might have already been there.
If MSU had won this game, A.J. Hoggard’s performance would have gone down in Spartan lore. Kansas State couldn’t stop him downhill late — to the point it looked like he was going to be too much for the Wildcats. He finished with 25 points and six assists.
If MSU had won, Jaden Akins’ defense down the stretch against Nowell — including two blocks at a critical juncture — would have been remembered.
Kansas State coach Jerome Tang said after his team beat Kentucky in the last round that they had “more dudes.“ No doubt they had them. MSU showed it had its share of dudes, too.
“It was a like a ‘Rocky’ fight,” Nowell said Thursday night.
Kansas State delivered the last punch. And so MSU’s run ends. What adds to the pain for the Spartans is, it’s clear now they were good enough to keep going a while longer.
I think if MSU had to do this game over, it would have rode with Jaden Akins guarding Markquis Nowell as much as Akins could handle it.
