CLEVELAND, Ohio — Michigan State guard Jeremy Fears Jr. said on Thursday he believes the Spartans are so deep, they have two starting lineups. Friday night, one of their bench players had a career night, sparking second-seeded Michigan State to an 87-62 win over No. 15 Bryant.
Coen Carr scored a career-high 18 points, including 15 in the first half, and added nine rebounds, bringing much-needed energy to a Spartans team that struggled to find their footing in the first half.
“Coen ignited us on offense, especially when things wasn’t going our way,” guard Jeremy Fears Jr. said. “He got a lot of offensive rebounds, tipped dunks, fouls, he was a big piece in getting this win today and helping us pull away.”
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Michigan State advances to play No. 10 New Mexico on Sunday night at 8:40 p.m. in the second round of the South Region. The Lobos beat seventh-seeded Marquette, 75-66.
Before they were able to think about Sunday, however, the Spartans had to deal with a Bryant team unafraid to play with pace and ready to match the physicality of the Spartans. Bryant scored the first five points of the game and held a four-point lead, 19-15, as late as 9:15 left in the first half.
“They came out and punched us right in the mouth, hit some shots early, got some rebounds early, turned us over,” longtime Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo said. “I thought they did a great job. Then I thought our bigs let us down a little bit, if I’m honest with you.”
Except for Carr, a 6-foot-6, 225 pound sophomore whose energy helped keep Michigan State afloat in the first half. Carr subbed in for the second time in the first half with 8:44 left and Bryant leading 19-17. He proceeded to score the next nine Michigan State points, grabbing 3 rebounds in the process, including 2 on the offensive glass, over the next five minutes, helping the Spartans to a 26-24 lead.
He returned to the game with 1:40 left in the half and added an offensive rebound and dunk to get Michigan State to a 33-28 lead at the half.
“I was just trying to run the floor, be aggressive,” Carr said. “I know they’re a tough team, so I wasn’t trying to — you can’t be soft when you go down there with them. So, I was trying to be aggressive and run my lane. They had me playing the 5 a little bit more a second, so I had to run my lane, run to the rim, so that’s all I was trying to do.”
Things could have been worse for Michigan State in the first half if not for Carr’s performance and Bryant shooting 32.4%. When the Bulldogs were finding offense, it was running through Earl Timberlake, their fifth-year, 6-foot-6, 220-pound, do-everything forward, the only player on the roster with previous tournament experience from his time with Memphis.
Timberlake sucked up much of Michigan State’s defensive attention and took his physical play to the Spartans, at least until his forehead was bloodied by an elbow from Michigan State junior center Carson Cooper on a loose ball with 7:19 left in the first half.
Timberlake was on the ground and came up with blood gushing from a cut on his left forehead.
“I remember trying to go for a rebound, his elbow hitting the top of my forehead. Next thing I know, I’m leaking from my face,” Timberlake said. “After that, I’m just thinking, how do I hurry up and get this thing cared so I can get back out there for my team?”
Bryant's Earl Timberlake had to leave Friday night's game to get a cut on his forehead taken care of.Joshua Gunter, cleveland.com
Timberlake was taken back to the locker room and returned with a bandage over the wound with 4:06 remaining, after Carr’s personal nine-point outburst.
Bryant head coach Phil Martelli Jr. said he didn’t realize what had happened to his star player.
“All of a sudden, a couple of them were yelling to (Assistant Athletic Trainer) Troy Cappos to come down and get him,” Martelli said. “So I had no idea. Then I did see him briefly go down and covered in blood. My thought was, he’ll clean it up and be right back, and he cleaned it up and he was right back. That’s Earl Timberlake.”
Timberlake managed two more buckets over the final 4:06 to keep Bryant within striking distance, 33-28, at the half. He finished the first half with eight points on 4-for-9 shooting.
“If him walking off the floor covered in blood isn’t a ‘One Shining Moment’ clip, I don’t know what is,” Martelli said, referring to CBS Sports’ post-tournament highlight package.
Bryant tried to make a run to start the second half, but, once again, it was Carr who stepped up.
With Michigan State leading, 36-33, after a Timberlake basket, senior guard Jaden Akins made a three-pointer and, on the ensuing Spartans possession after a Bryant miss, Carr tracked down an offensive rebound and set up Fears for a three to put Michigan State up by nine.
From there, the second half was all about Michigan State imposing their will. They outrebounded Bryant, 29-11 and had 27 second-chance points in the second half. The Spartans went from a 25-18 rebounding edge in the first half to finishing the game outrebounding the Bulldogs, 54-29.
Izzo said he talked with his team about their rebounding in the halftime locker room, with a face that indicated it wasn’t just talking.
“I thought we got pushed around a little bit in the first half, and maybe that was me,” Izzo said. “I don’t know. But we did a better job the second half.”
Michigan State’s stars helped carry them to the finish line, with freshman guard Jase Richardson scoring 10 points in the second half while Fears added nine and Akins seven.
Richardson finished the game with 15 points while Fears and Akins scored 11.
Not to be outdone by his fellow bench player, junior guard Tre Holloman scored 11 of his 14 points in the second half.
The Spartans finished the game shooting 46.3%, including 10-for-26 from three, while Bryant made just 37.1% of their shots and just 5-for-24 from three.
Bryant was led in scoring by senior guard Rafael Pinzon’s 21 points. Timberlake was the only other Bulldogs player in double figures with 14.
This was Bryant’s second appearance in the NCAA tournament and their first in the Round of 64. They lost the play-in game to Wright State in 2022.
“This group this year found greatness,” Martelli said. “They rewrote history at Bryant. They’ve made their mark. I could not be more proud of a group. I just told them 22 years of coaching, I don’t know if I’ve had more fun coaching a team than this group right here.”
“We’ve been through a lot, like, individually and as a team, like the last couple years here at Bryant,” Timberlake said. “That means everything just to get here to the tournament and go out this way, with a great group of guys.”
Ultimately, Michigan State proved to be too big and too fast for Bryant to overcome.
“It was a simple game plan, it was get back in transition and keep them off the glass,” Martelli said. “The hard part is actually doing that over a 40-minute game. They were actually a little faster than I thought. Even watching them, you know, the way they get the ball down the floor, and certainly the physicality, and some of those, to be honest with you, some of the rebounds, they were just bigger than us.”
While Bryant was, in some ways, happy to be here, Michigan State and Izzo weren’t just happy to get a win.
“We’ve got to do a better job,” Izzo said, “but the biggest thing is the first game of the tournament. For all 27 years I’ve been in it and all the Big Ten tournaments, and any other tournament I’ve been in, the first game is the most important.”
Michigan State’s win capped a day of basketball games at Rocket Arena.
Earlier in the day, No. 2 Alabama survived an upset scare from No. 15 Robert Morris, 90-81 and will play No. 7 Saint Mary’s, who beat Vanderbilt, 59-56, in an East region game.
Alabama will play Saint Mary’s in the other game on Sunday at 6:10 p.m.