There aren’t too many prominent college basketball teams without any blue in their team colors. But even without any blue, Michigan State’s green and white should command the same level of respect given to Duke, North Carolina, Kentucky, UCLA, Kansas and even this year’s No. 1 team, Auburn.
One group that doesn’t need to be reminded of this is the Ole Miss men’s basketball team. The Rebels will face the Spartans Friday in the Sweet 16 round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament. Led by one of the sports all-time great coaches, Tom Izzo, the Spartans capable of beating anyone on any given day.
How good is Tom Izzo's memory? 👀 @MSU_Basketball pic.twitter.com/EXhh8NFK2p
— CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB) March 26, 2025
Michigan State’s scoring has come from their depth, as they are led by Jaden Akins with an average of 12.7 points per game. However, they have seven players who average 7.0 per outing or more, and rank fifth in the nation in bench points per game with a clip of 34.5. They’ve been led this year in rebounding by Jaxon Kohler, who averages 7.5 boards per game and has posted seven double-doubles. Their offense runs through guards Jeremy Fears Jr. and Tre Holloman, who average 5.4 and 3.8 assists per game, respectively, to help the team rank 22nd in the country with 16.7 helpers per contest.
The Spartans also rank highly as a team in three-point percentage defense (1st, 27.8), rebound margin (+9.4, 2nd), fastbreak points per game (3rd, 16.1), and defensive rebounds per game (9th, 28.0).
The Rebels have a tough task in front of them and here’s how you can watch them take on Michigan State:
How to Watch: NCAA Tournament Sweet 16
- Who: No. 6 seed Ole Miss vs. No. 2 seed Michigan State(29-6, 17-3 Big Ten)
- When: 6:09 p.m., Friday
- Where: State Farm Arena, Atlanta, Ga.
- TV: CBS
- Radio: Ole Miss Radio Network
- Series: Michigan State leads the all-time series 2-0
- Last Meeting: 1999 NCAA Tournament, Second Round – Michigan State won 74-66
- Last time out, Rebels: def. Iowa State, 91-78
- Last time out, Spartans: def. New Mexico, 71-63
Information from Ole Miss Athletics was used in this story.
