BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) 鈥� Coen Carr recorded his first career double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds, and Jeremy Fears Jr. had 16 assists as Michigan State advanced to the Sweet 16 for the 17th time under coach Tom Izzo, beating Louisville 77-69 on Saturday in the second round of the
鈥淏ack to the Sweet 16, where this program belongs,鈥� Izzo said.
Fears added 12 points on 3-of-13 shooting but did the most damage for Michigan State with his precision passing. The country’s assists leader, who came in averaging 9.2 per game, became the first Big Ten player with 10 or more assists in each of the first two games of an NCAA tourney. He had 11 in over North Dakota State.
Magic Johnson had double-digit assists in four NCAA Tournament games during the Spartans鈥� run to the 1979 national title, before assists became an official stat.
鈥淲ell, if he鈥檚 shy of just Magic Johnson, he鈥檚 in pretty good company,鈥� Izzo said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 a pretty good place to be. So Earvin, if you鈥檙e watching, he鈥檚 coming after you.鈥�
Third-seeded Michigan State will play the winner of Sunday鈥檚 game between No. 2 seed UConn and No. 7 seed UCLA in the East Region semifinals on Friday night in Washington.
Carr, a high-jumping, 6-foot-6 junior forward, reached double-digit rebounds for the first time and came within one point of his best scoring game.
鈥淚t means a lot, just to be in March Madness, one of the greatest stages on Earth, and to have a game like this,鈥� Carr said.
Trey Fort contributed 12 points off the bench for Michigan State, and Jaxon Kohler had 10 points.
Ryan Conwell led No. 6 seed Louisville (24-11) with 21 points and Adrian Wooley scored 17. The Cardinals were seeking their first Sweet 16 appearance since 2015, when they reached the Elite Eight under Rick Pitino.
Michigan State used a 17-5 spurt to take a 10-point lead on Carson Cooper鈥檚 3-pointer midway through the first half. Louisville got within a basket twice after that but never evened the score. When the Cardinals cut the lead to 50-47 with 12 minutes remaining, Fears had three assists and a basket during a 13-3 run that put the Spartans back up by double digits.
Fears breaks multiple assist marks
Fears set a Michigan State record for assists in a March Madness game, surpassing Johnson’s 14.
He also broke the record for Buffalo’s KeyBank Center, which opened in 1996 and has hosted 48 NCAA Tournament games. Temple guard Pepe Sanchez held the previous record of 15 assists, set in a 2000 game against Lafayette. The year before, Sanchez hit a shot at the buzzer to beat Michigan State when the Spartans were ranked No. 5 in the country.
鈥淵ou’re bringing back bad memories,鈥� Izzo said to the press conference moderator, a Temple graduate.
Fears had 27 assists in the sub-regional, the second only to UCLA’s Earl Watson, who had 28 in the first two games of the 2000 tournament, according to CBS.
鈥淢y favorite thing passing is seeing my other teammates score and the joy and the excitement it brings them,鈥� Fears said. 鈥淚f they鈥檙e happy, I鈥檓 happy. Just to see somebody get a dunk or somebody hit a 3 and you know they鈥檙e hyped, I鈥檓 hyped with them. So it鈥檚 just a great feeling somebody else be successful.鈥�
Carr soars above the rim
Fears set up Carr for three dunks that energized the Spartans and a pro-Michigan State crowd.
鈥淭he energy it brings to everybody, the crowd, the little kids, the band section, the coaches, the bench, just everybody,鈥� Carr said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 for me, but also it鈥檚 for everybody else. I like to see the gym have energy, and that鈥檚 what I try to bring every time.鈥�
Izzo gives a shoutout to Fort
Izzo praised his captains 鈥� Kohler, Cooper, Fears and Carr 鈥� for staying committed to Michigan State and growing into their roles over the past three seasons. But he also was proud of Fort, who reached double figures for the fourth time this season and first since Feb. 4. A transfer from Samford, the 6-foot-4 guard averaged 14.6 points last season.
鈥淭his is tear-jerking for me because I鈥檓 watching guys grow in front of me like it鈥檚 supposed to happen,鈥� Izzo said. 鈥淭rey has had a miserable year for what he was expecting and for what we were expecting. And instead of quitting, instead of doing when the going gets tough, nowadays everybody gets out of dodge, he鈥檚 stuck with it.鈥�
Up next
Michigan State will face a familiar opponent, having lost 76-69 against UConn in an exhibition at the start of the season and splitting two meetings with UCLA. The Spartans won 82-59 at home on Feb. 17, and lost 88-84 in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament in Chicago.
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