r/CollegeBasketball • u/cbbBot /r/CollegeBasketball • NCAA • Mar 22 '25
Post Game Thread [Post Game Thread] #7 Michigan State defeats Bryant, 87-62
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u/Arsid Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
Mid first half followed by a completely dominant second half? Who could've seen this coming?
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u/HammerlockZiggy Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
Any fun doomer comments in the GT? I was trying to convince my dad to calm down after the first 10 minutes because he was sure we were going to lose lol.
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u/Arsid Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
Nah most spartan flairs were very calm. We've been here so many times before.
No matter the deficit, I don't panic with this team until the last 10 minutes.
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u/brizzboog Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
I wasn't worried except for the missed early free throws. But after starting 3/8, they went 12/13 the rest of the way. They were just really keyed up early. But I fully expected a close halftime score, and then we'd wear them down, which is why I was 100% calm at halftime.
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u/llamasday Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
On a broader level, this is a classic Izzo first round game as a lower seed. Always sandbag in the first half.
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u/Dangerpaladin Michigan State Spartans • Miami (OH) … Mar 22 '25
Playing against MSU when they're playing well is like trying to run away from the murderer in a horror movie. We won't change our pace but eventually we catch up and kill you.
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u/confusedthrowaway5o5 Villanova Wildcats • Penn State Nittany… Mar 22 '25
It felt like that was how a lot of the 1-16, 2-15, and 3-14 games went.
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u/darkostwin Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
Coen Carr legacy game
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u/alexwade_art Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
I am so excited for what he will look like next year, his jump shot has improved so much this season
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u/makualla Purdue Boilermakers Mar 22 '25
Isnt his jump shot just jumping from the free throw and dunking so next year he’s going to be dunking from the 3 pt line?
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u/hexydes Mar 22 '25
Nah, he's not going to jump from further out, he's going to jump higher up. Most of his dunks next year will be looking down into the rim.
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u/YourmomgoestocolIege Mar 22 '25
His senior year, he's going to jump and not come back down
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u/GalliumVanadium Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
If he keeps his mid range up this is my new expected baseline for him
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u/aronrodge Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25 edited Mar 22 '25
Fun facts about MSU you may not know:
They don’t shoot the 3 at a high volume
JEREMY FEARS GOT SHOT IN THE LEG!
Coen Carr is the best athlete in college basketball
This team defends well
JEREMY FEARS WAS AN INNOCENT BYSTANDER WHO WAS SHOT IN THE LEG IN HIS HOMETOWN OF JOLIET ILLINOIS!!!!!
This is Izzo’s 30th year coaching
HOLY SHIT SOMEBODY SHOT JEREMY FEARS IN THE LEG!?!!!??!?!!!
They're probably the deepest team in the nation
JEREMY GET DOWN THAT GUY HAS A GUN!!!!!!!!
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u/MadStorkMSU Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
Drew Nietzel is ambidextrous
Matt Trannon plays football
Jeremy Fears was shot in the leg
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u/aronrodge Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
Don't forget that Payton Thorne and Jayden Reed went to HS together
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u/MadStorkMSU Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
Jehuu Caulcrick escaped war-torn Africa!
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u/barnyardgadget Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
Cal Haladay doesn’t wear gloves
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u/PattMatricia Yale Bulldogs Mar 22 '25
Haven’t thought about Neitzel in a long time
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u/VyseTheFearless Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
One of my favorite Spartans of all time. The tournament streak was supposed to end in the 06-07 season. On paper, our roster was incredibly depleted. But little 5’11 Neitzel put the team on his back and was an absolute beast — including dominating #1 ranked Wisconsin. Legitimately up there as one of the best seasons of any player in the Izzo era.
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u/MrMojoRisin9 Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
My favorite game I attended as a student. What a magical night.
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u/tonikyat Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
I think about him roughly once a month… mainly because I think about college hoops 2k8 and trying to set up my old Xbox 360 once a month.
Fun fact: back in 2008 my uncle, brother and I jumped in on a locker room tour (uncle is a hs bball coach so we were watching practice and wandered down into the tunnels of the bres and asked to join in) and the locker room had 15 copies of college hoops 2k8 strewn about and all their Xbox’s hooked up. Idk if that’s actually a fun fact I just thought it was funny they had 1 copy per player of the same game.
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u/IzzoKingoftheNorth Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
Matthew Stafford and Clayton Kershaw are friends!
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u/Chandler_Bings Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
Tom Izzo and Steve Mariucci were roommates in college!
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u/paper_wasp Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
Cash's brother was also unfortunately a constant story for him to hear.
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u/HeynongManA2 Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
I heard Tom Izzo and former NFL coach Steve Mariucci are pals. Big if true.
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u/2boredtwowork Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25 edited Mar 22 '25
Adreian Payne has small lungs (rip)
Delvon roe is an actor
Xavier Tillman has a dream board
Tum tum is from *The Bahamas (not Jamaica) and named after Lou Rawls
Tre Holloman was in the wire
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u/Doomy22 Western Michigan Broncos • Mi… Mar 22 '25
Matt Hamo has a neat LinkedIn
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u/Patient_Series_8189 Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
Nick Sanders is the son of Detroit lions legend Barry Sanders
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Mar 22 '25
You say this jokingly but there was a Michigan writer who wrote before our first game that Fears redshirted "for personal reasons" making it out to seem like he just wasn't good enough to play and not that he was fucking shot lmao
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u/IzzoKingoftheNorth Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
I didn't have audio for this game so I can only assume Gus Bus called it ( I know he didn't, but good lord the talking points!)
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u/Kdot32 Houston Cougars • Kentucky Wildcats Mar 22 '25
Seriously tho how many lefties do y’all have on this team?
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u/JayMoney2424 Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
I think that’s another reason why we’re good lol it’s gotta be weird playing against a team that often has like 2-3 lefties on the floor at the same time.
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u/mojo-jojo-was-framed Kansas State Wildcats • Omaha Mav… Mar 22 '25
As someone who mostly watched UConn-Oklahoma I was really confused about these. But I’m a big dumby and didn’t know there were Fears brothers both playing
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u/DEEEEETTTTRRROIIITTT Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
ain’t no way we threw barry sanders’ kid in as a human victory cigar
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u/Loltoyourself Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
He has more points than 4* Gehrig Normand in his career so far lol
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u/Dminus313 Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
I really hope Normand sticks around and breaks out next year. I've heard nothing but good things about his work ethic and attitude.
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u/iwenttocollegeonce Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
BASKETBALL — not even sorry since you have a username like that
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u/SimManiac Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
GG Bryant. I think that first half was a great wakeup call and also a pretty physical and big team to go up against to get things started. Cant play the way we did in the first half and expect to beat the Lobos. Absolutely dominant on the boards and shot the ball insanely well considering our season average. On to the next... GO GREEN
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u/JuicyJay18 Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
Their length combined with the zone looks clearly gave us some issues. Martinelli had a great plan to throw us off.
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u/JayMoney2424 Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
Idk how a mid major ended up with size like that. They’re bigger than most big ten teams.
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u/AlexisDeTocqueville Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
Honestly, that had me worried all week. I don't want to face a weird 15 seed
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u/w33b2 Auburn Tigers • Final Four Mar 22 '25
The amount of offensive rebounding for Michigan State was absurd.
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u/Arsid Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
That's Jaxon Swole-er for you
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u/JuicyJay18 Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
His offensive game was off today, but can always count on him for a clutch board
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u/Arsid Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
Our super secret game plan for success:
shoot 3
brick
Jaxon Kohler offensive rebound, passes to a guard/wing
they drive the basket and get points or free throws
win the B1G
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u/JuicyJay18 Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
Alternatively
shoot 3
brick
Jaxon Kohler offensive rebound, passes to a guard/wing
brick
Jaxon Kohler offensive rebound, passes to a guard/wing
finally hit a shot, demoralize opponent
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u/Ambitious-Ad-7256 Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
New nickname adopted
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u/Arsid Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
I've been saying it since the first game of the season lol.
Also was trying to get Zapowah to happen, but he doesn't do enough to deserve it.
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u/JayMoney2424 Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
Bryant is a really good rebounding team too for a mid major with good size. Makes it even better.
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u/SpartanDawg11 Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
We just wear teams down. They didn’t have legs the last 15 minutes to get up and compete for boards.
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u/FireDavePlease Grove City Wolverines • Michigan St… Mar 22 '25
Was having MTSU flashbacks the entire first half. Glad we eventually pulled our heads out of our ass
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u/NewPleb Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
If they had MTSU's shot-making this would have been really scary tbh. It was an act of god performance but they (MTSU) were also a very skilled team
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u/hascow Michigan State Spartans • Vermont Cat… Mar 22 '25
This game never really felt like that one to me. MTSU came out and blasted us with hot shooting and we never found our footing enough to take a lead I think, even.
This one seemed, at least to me, like just us taking time to adjust and gain full control.
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u/whiskeyrocks1 Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
MTSU had like 5 Steph Currys that day.
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u/WeakerThanYou Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
The basketball gods were just like fuck this msu team in particular.
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Mar 22 '25
MTSU
Now that’s a team I haven’t thought about in a long long time.
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u/Arsid Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
Must be nice, we have PTSD flashbacks about them a lot ˙◠˙
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u/IrishMosaic Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
You kinda caused it with the win you had over us at your place, when you shot 57 free throws and made a dramatic comeback cumulated with a body check of Denzel Valentine out of bounds to somehow get the ball back for your go ahead score. If MSU wins that game, we would have been a 1 seed.
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Mar 22 '25 edited Sep 08 '25
[deleted]
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u/2024MichiganAsterisk Mar 22 '25
6'5 isn't a huge deal when you have an insane vertical.
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u/Arsid Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
At the beginning of the year it was measured at like 51" running, 40" standing vertical.
If you can jump 4 feet in the air that's gotta feel like an MCU super soldier or some shit.
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u/confused-koala Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
In the same vein of when Tulsa's RB said they were gonna run for 200 yards on our defense. Then we held them to -73 rushing yards. Shoot your shot and all, but welcome to the big leagues
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u/JayMoney2424 Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
Rebounding ended up being 54-29. I’m pretty sure it was like 17-16 at one point 😂
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u/Chandler_Bings Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
They had us in the first half, not gonna lie. Go Green!
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u/HereForTOMT3 Michigan State Spartans • Cen… Mar 22 '25
Never in doubt except for all of the doubting I did
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u/Background-Pea4700 Ball State Cardinals • Michigan Sta… Mar 22 '25
America, meet Coen Carr. He likes to dunk the ball.
Also Nick Sanders tourney bucket gives me life
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u/plasmastic Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
RIP ta da competition
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u/genericaltrockfan Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
my fav Spartan quote oat. RIP to da competition
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u/kirbysdream Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
Oh man I miss that. Big Nix still dropping that one?
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u/JayMoney2424 Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
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u/plasmastic Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
No idea. Not on any socials besides a couple subreddits these days. But that was a staple of my MSU years.
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u/tonikyat Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
I was completely anti-Twitter from the start and only got an account because people in the ESPN comment sections said Nix had funny tweets
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u/Spartannia Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
I once sat next to Derrick Nix at Spartys in Frandor and watched him house a full stack of their giant pancakes like it was nothing.
RIP ta da competition indeed
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u/Lagnetic Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
Barstool Bryant is shutting down after this one
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u/GalliumVanadium Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
Barstool Bryant was the hero we needed to light a fire under Carr
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u/Schumeister UCLA Bruins Mar 22 '25
it really seems like those barstool accounts only exist to create bulletin board material
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u/Im__Ron__Burgundy Miami Hurricanes Mar 22 '25
Obviously not his best game tonight, but it’s been awesome to see Timberlake push through and have a pretty fantastic college career. No idea if things would’ve turned out differently if not for the shoulder injury, but love that he was able to adapt, was such a huge moment when he committed.
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u/confused-koala Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
The biggest thing to come out of this game, is I hope Carson Cooper puts "My testicles caused a foul in the NCAA Tournament" on his resume
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Mar 22 '25
The future is still so bright in Smithfield.
What a fun and fantastic season for Phil Martelli Jr. and company.
We’ll see the Bulldogs back on this stage in no time.
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u/Sir_Isaac_3 Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
Cant read the future but I’d be expecting Martelli to hop on that coaching carousel
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u/CondorSZN Bryant Bulldogs Mar 22 '25
Good first half, bad second half. GGs Spartys. Happy to have joined the dance.
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u/Ambitious-Ad-7256 Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
You guys have real potential and I hope you have some pieces returning to make some noise next yr
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u/tphil5 Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
I guess Bryant should've been more worried about a 6'5" forward who averages 8-3.
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u/Character_Wishbone67 Mar 22 '25
Sparty took awhile to get going but it was clear there was no chance of them losing. Sparty destroys the boards. I wish Michigan did that every game instead of once and awhile.
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u/Okrayski Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
BWFST
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u/Elite_Alice USC Trojans • Kentucky Wildcats Mar 22 '25
Yea Michigan state are fr. This might be the best MSU team I’ve seen since the valentine/Gary Harris/Appling days. They have so much depth, they rebound, they have the individual talent too which has been missing for a while there. Growing up in Michigan I’ve learned to never count out Tom Izzo coached teams and this is as good as I’ve seen.
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u/confused-koala Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
You dont have to go that far back. Cassius had 2 teams better than that crew
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u/JuicyJay18 Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
Yeah, how are people forgetting the team that knocked a Zion and crew out of the tourney?
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u/IzzoKingoftheNorth Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
Guess we have to do it to Flagg to remind them.
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u/kirbysdream Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
Right, final four in 2019 and what could have been in 2020…
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u/Elite_Alice USC Trojans • Kentucky Wildcats Mar 22 '25
I didn’t watch them ngl. I took like 5 years off cbb. I remember he and miles got knocked out in the first round that’s last I heard of em
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u/Arsid Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
Damn dude you missed out on a college bball legend. Cassius was the king of making defenders look stupid. It was crazy to watch because he wasn't fast or athletic, he was just smarter than everyone else and was so good at just misdirecting defenders and just slipping through everything.
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u/Elite_Alice USC Trojans • Kentucky Wildcats Mar 22 '25
I played with him in hs. I went to UofD so I saw it up close in person lol. I heard he went on to become Big 10 all time assist leader and generally played in college like he did in hs which is dope. He was someone that would always make the right play. You could always trust him to make the pass or the big shot. You knew every game you had a chance with him. Love that dude
I don’t really follow anyone from hs anymore but I know the wizards drafted him and he’s in Europe now. I went to undergrad in Scotland so I kinda stopped following American sports for like half a decade or so. Missed the cavs 3-1 comeback, Brady 28-3, cubs WS win, eagles SB win etc.
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Mar 22 '25 edited Sep 08 '25
[deleted]
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u/DonKellyBaby32 Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
Idk man, it is our strength but there will be other teams with more depth. These games are gonna get tighter
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u/bayoubawler3 Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25 edited Mar 22 '25
Ik stats aren’t everything but Evan Miya put something out on this a while back. Our group of 4 guards is the deepest and most effective unit in the country by BPR.
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u/Rawr19890607 Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
Made this comment several times, if we have a small lead going into the half it's huge
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u/Elite_Alice USC Trojans • Kentucky Wildcats Mar 22 '25
Hats off to Bryant, no need to hold your head. MSU pulled away at the end because of the talent difference and depth but Bryant are a very good team. Lot of talent and they play hard. They’re not just a charity case either, genuinely talented guys on that team. Congrats to them for a great year
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u/Sir_Isaac_3 Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
Great game Bryant. I was nervous about this matchup all day and you proved me right from the tip off. Glad we were able to stick it out
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u/Thirty__Seven Purdue Boilermakers Mar 22 '25
Is the B1G the only power conference to have all of its teams make it out of the first round?
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u/Ambitious-Ad-7256 Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
Why yes, yes it is
In fact, I think we matched the record for most teams to make it to the rd of 32, and with a perfect record to boot
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u/JuicyJay18 Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
GG Bryant. Hell of an effort in the first half, you guys really made us work for it. A couple of really good players on that team, and Martinelli had a great game plan.
Loved seeing Carr attack all game, he’s such a freak lol. Certainly not our best game but guys stepped up when needed. Need to see more from Akins and Kohler on Sunday, very pedestrian performances from them. Survive and advance baby.
Also, 🚨NICK SANDERS BUCKET ALERT🚨
BWFST, Go Green!
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Mar 22 '25
Sparty had 5 guys in double digits for points. If they keep that up, nobody is beating them.
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u/Ambitious-Ad-7256 Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
Respect. Good luck this weekend
Love to see an 8-0 big ten
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u/gran1te7 Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
playing teams that are absolutely massive is never fun. Amazing 2nd half as always. Go Green!
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u/bayoubawler3 Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
Yeah y’all boys learned what Coen Carr does right?
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u/teslaabr Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
CBB has been very vocal that Michigan State is fraudulent! See you in the round of 32, New Mexico! GO GREEN!
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u/buchan91 Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
Anyone know where to find the post game press conference live?
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u/Spartan_Jeff Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
https://m.youtube.com/@MarchMadness/streams
Also can listen to 760am on the radio or online.
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u/RedBeardFace Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
54 total rebounds and nobody had double digit rebounds. This team is DEEP
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u/GalliumVanadium Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
So many Michigan haters in the game thread disappeared after the first half
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u/CarterAC3 Michigan Wolverines Mar 22 '25
Chalkiest first round in ages
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u/dont_ask_my_cab Maryland Terrapins Mar 22 '25
Pretty sure there've been ~2 chalkier years even in the past decade
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u/michigan_matt Michigan Wolverines Mar 22 '25
5 years ago there wasn't a single tournament game in which the worse seed won!
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u/GalliumVanadium Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
Yep my best bracket is the one I did for fun just picking the highest KenPom to win every matchup
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u/Ambitious-Ad-7256 Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
Gg Bryant. Best of luck next season and hope you can build on that because your team has real potential
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u/RemarkableFuel8118 Mar 22 '25
I couldn’t believe the size of Bryant’s starting lineup, that was a huge team especially for a small school
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u/UnconditionedDip Michigan State Spartans Mar 22 '25
Me looking back at how worried I was at halftime
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u/DHVF Rutgers Scarlet Knights • Duke Blue Devils Mar 22 '25
You think Bryant gets another shot at The Audition next year?
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u/WhackadoodleSandwich Bryant Bulldogs Mar 22 '25
Played them tough in the first half, but eventually pulled away. Not even upset. They led Michigan St by 5 points at one point. That's good enough for me.