Michigan State Basketball Takes on Mighty North Carolina in NCAA Showdown

By | March 22, 2024
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Last Updated on March 22, 2024 by Timileyin Awogbade

Charlotte, North Carolina — Tom Izzo’s situation could not have improved any faster.

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The legendary coach of Michigan State basketball improved his all-time record of 17 victories in the NCAA tournament on Thursday, despite starting as a lower seed. He also improved to 9-0 versus Southeastern Conference teams as the 9th-seeded Spartans defeated 8th-seeded Mississippi State 69-51 to advance to 11-1 all-time against the SEC in the NCAA tournament.

Michigan State Head Coach Tom Izzo hugs ACC Commissioner James J. Phillip
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Michigan State Head Coach Tom Izzo hugs ACC Commissioner James J. Phillip

MSU is going to play the role of the underdog again on Saturday. This time around, Izzo and the Spartans will face No. 1 seed North Carolina, which not only has a clear seeding advantage this season but has consistently destroyed them.

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Izzo remarked outside MSU’s locker room on Thursday afternoon, “The front window is a lot bigger than the rearview mirror.” “I’m just going to look forward.” I’m just going to move on to Carolina and see what we can do. It will most likely be 97.5 percent blue here. And I love it. It’s going to be fantastic.”

The Spartans have an all-time record of 4-12 against North Carolina and 0-5 against the Tar Heels in the NCAA tournament. Izzo is 3-9 overall and 0-4 in NCAA tournaments against UNC.

The last game between the two teams took place on November 26, 2017, with MSU winning 63-45 to win the PK80 championship in Portland, Oregon.

But since Roy Williams resigned in 2021 and UNC alumnus Hubert Davis took over for the previous three seasons, Izzo has not faced the Tar Heels.



Just 32 teams are remaining when it comes to the Round of 32. So that round is usually going to be two incredibly good programs,” Davis explained. “We’re excited about the challenge of playing against a great Michigan State team.”

In front of a resolutely pro-UNC crowd, the Tar Heels (28-7) crushed Wagner, the No. 16 seed, 90-62 in Thursday’s second game at Spectrum Center. Star senior Armando Bacot, a 6-foot-11 center, had 10 points and 15 rebounds. RJ Davis, a 6-foot senior guard, scored 22 points to lead the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season champions.

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The Tar Heels are led by Davis, who scores 21.4 points per game. Bacot averages 14.3 points and 10.3 rebounds. Two more players, 6-7 big Harrison Ingram (12.1 points/8.9 rebounds) and 6-5 guard Cormac Ryan (11.3 points), score in double digits. Elliot Cadeau, their 6-foot-1 starting point guard, averages 7.3 points and 4.1 assists.

Before traveling to Charlotte, the Spartans “did a lot of pre-prep for North Carolina,” according to Izzo.

Izzo pronounced Carolina to be good. “They’ve demonstrated it all year long. And I am looking forward to viewing it.”

There is a familial tie between the Spartans and the Tar Heels. Senior guard Paxton Wojcik, the son of MSU assistant coach Doug Wojcik, went to UNC from Brown during the spring for his final year of eligibility. He has played with Spartan players in the Moneyball Pro-Am in Lansing in prior summers.

The two initiatives have a long history, dating back over 65 years.


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MSU and UNC first met in the 1957 NCAA tournament, when the Spartans reached the Final Four for the first time. They took the Tar Heels to triple overtime before losing, 74-76.

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Until Izzo took over, they would not face each other in the NCAA Tournament again. In 1998, the then-coach of UNC concluded his first NCAA tournament run in the Sweet 16.

After taking over at UNC in 2003, Williams defeated Izzo seven times in a row. This included defeating MSU for the 2009 national championship at Ford Field, ending the Spartans’ season in the 2005 Final Four, and the 2007 second round. The previous time the two teams faced off, Cassius Winston, Miles Bridges, and the Spartans prevailed in the PK80.

Early in 2022, Williams went to MSU to see a game after he retired. 


In the opening round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament at the Spectrum Center, guard RJ Davis (4) of the North Carolina Tar Heels defends the ball against the Wagner Seahawks.

Roy Williams and I spoke the other day. He needs to give me a scouting report, Izzo smiled. “I most likely won’t succeed.”

Izzo st the Maui Classic in November 1995, the first game in his career and his first encounter with legendary Tar Heels coach Dean Smith.

Before taking office in February, Kevin Guskiewicz, the new president of MSU, served as UNC-Chapel Hill’s chancellor for four years.


Izzo and the Spartans returned to their hotel to continue their short turnaround preparations for the Tar Heels. Over his record 26 consecutive NCAA appearances, it has proven to be his calling card. MSU is 24-7 in the second game of a tournament weekend.

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Against No. 1 seeds or the eventual national champion, those seven defeats have occurred five times.

Of those, two have been directed against North Carolina.

Izzo stated, “All we can do now is go home and work.” “Thank you, God, for another day at work. My only desire was to work another day.


Timileyin Awogbade

Timileyin Awogbade is a journalist, seasoned copywriter, expert editor, and experienced content creator at Dailylight Channel with over 5 years of experience in writing, content strategy, and SEO.

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