Who’s Playing
Michigan State Spartans @ N. Carolina Tar Heels
Current Records: Michigan State 18-13, N. Carolina 25-6
How To Watch
What to Know
The Michigan State Spartans and the N. Carolina Tar Heels are set to clash at 5:30 p.m. ET on Saturday at Spectrum Center in a Big Ten postseason contest. The stakes are high as both teams are all in, both fighting to extend their postseason success.
Winning is just a little bit easier when your three-point shooting is a whole 21.3% better than the opposition, a fact Michigan State proved on Thursday. They strolled past the Bulldogs with points to spare, taking the game 69-51.
Among those leading the charge was Tyson Walker, who scored 19 points along with three steals. He didn’t help Michigan State’s cause all that much against Purdue on Friday but the same can’t be said for this game. Another player making a difference was Jaden Akins, who scored 15 points along with seven rebounds.
Meanwhile, N. Carolina made the experts look like fools on Thursday, as the team pulled off a huge upset of Wagner. They took their match on the road with ease, bagging a 90-62 win over the Seahawks. N. Carolina’s victory was all the more impressive since Wagner was averaging only 63.12 points allowed on the season.
N. Carolina’s success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Armando Bacot led the charge by dropping a double-double on 20 points and 15 rebounds. Bacot hasn’t dropped below ten rebounds for four straight games. The team also got some help courtesy of RJ Davis, who scored 22 points.
The Spartans’ victory bumped their record up to 20-14. As for the Tar Heels, they are on a roll lately: they’ve won nine of their last ten games, which provided a nice bump to their 28-7 record this season.
Michigan State strolled past N. Carolina in their previous meeting back in November of 2017 by a score of 63-45. Will Michigan State repeat their success, or does N. Carolina have a better game plan this time around? We’ll find out soon enough.
Series History
Michigan State won the only game these two teams have played in the last 7 years.
- Nov 26, 2017 – Michigan State 63 vs. N. Carolina 45
