COLUMBUS, Ohio — At Michigan State, the motto in the NCAA Tournament is to win the weekend.
On Sunday evening at Nationwide Arena, the seventh-seeded Spartans did just that, starting quickly, rallying then holding on to beat No. 2 Marquette, 69-60, to advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2019, the last season the Spartans made the Final Four.
Michigan State (21-12) will take on No. 3 Kansas State on Thursday at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Tyson Walker scored 23, including 17 in the second half, to lead the Spartans while Joey Hauser scored 14 and A.J. Hoggard added 13 points helping Michigan State overcome a 2-for-16 outing from 3-point range.
Oliver-Maxence Prosper scored 16 to lead Marquette (29-7) as Kam Jones added 14 and Oso Ighodaro chipped in 10 for the Golden Eagles.
Michigan State came out firing, overcoming a turnover in the first 10 seconds to score 11 straight points and jump to an 11-2 lead just four minutes into the game.
That lead kept growing and after Hauser hit a jumper then nailed two straight free throws, the Spartans had an 18-5 lead with 12:24 left in the first half.
The Marquette offense started to come to life from there and got within eight at 21-13, but Michigan State, pushing the lead to 27-15 on a lob pass from Malik Hall to Carson Cooper. The Golden Eagles, however, picked up the full-court defensive pressure and it bothered the Spartans as a 6-0 run got them within 27-21.
Michigan State managed to get the lead back to nine at 31-22, but Marquette scored seven in a row with a pair of 3-pointers before Jaden Akins closed the scoring with a jumper in the lane, give the Spartans a 33-28 lead at halftime.
Marquette was the team off to the quick start in the second half as the Golden Eagles hit two 3-pointers in the first minute and scored the first eight points of the half to take a 34-33 lead, their first since it was 2-0.
Michigan State managed to get the lead back at 40-39, but another 3-pointer from David Joplin gave Marquette a 42-40 lead with 12:09 to play as Michigan State couldn't buy a shot, going 2-for-10 in the second half to that point.
The Spartans clawed back, though, forcing turnovers and building a 52-45 lead after a pair of Walker free throws with 6:33 to play. But the Golden Eagles got the next six to pull within one. After Hoggard split a pair of free throws, Hauser nailed a three from the corner.
But Jones answered at the other end to pull Marquette within 56-54 with 4:13 to play. After a Marquette free throw, Michigan State got buckets from Walker and Hoggard to push the lead to 60-55 with 2:20 to play
Walker then hit a jumper, made two free throws then got a steal and a dunk to push the lad to 66-55 before a Tyler Kolek 3-pointer. But the Spartans put the game away at the free-throw line.
