A spot in the Sweet 16 is on the line for Michigan State basketball and Louisville as they meet Saturday, March 21, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament East region.
The third-seeded Spartans are looking for their second straight Sweet 16, while the 6-seed Cardinals haven’t made the second weekend of March Madness since 2015, back when Rick Pitino was their coach. Over the past three tournaments, there have been seven 3/6 second-round matchups – the lower seed has won four of those, including Ole Miss beating Iowa State and BYU beating Wisconsin last season.
Can Louisville pull off the upset? Five Free Press sports writers are, uh, skeptical:
Tony Garcia
The Spartans barely broke a sweat in their opener and now face a blueblood to advance to the second weekend. The difference for Pat Kelsey’s team is, it’s not at full power without point guard Mikel Brown. MSU is the better team and makes it back to a familiar spot in the Sweet 16 after pulling away late. The pick: MSU 77, Louisville 70.
Carlos Monarrez
Without sensational freshman guard Mikel Brown Jr., who’s likely to miss a sixth straight game with a back injury, Louisville has no chance against the Spartans’ grinding defense, especially after committing 22 turnovers in a squeaker against South Florida. The pick: MSU 88, Louisville 70
Jeff Seidel
The Spartans opened the NCAA Tournament with a victory over North Dakota State – a complete game in every way, which couldn’t have come at a better time and should give MSU fans hope. But this game is going to come down to the matchup at the top. MSU guard Jeremy Fears Jr. against Louisville guard Ryan Conwell. The edge goes to the All-American who is in complete sync with his teammates. The pick: MSU 76, Louisville 74.
Chris Solari
After playing one of their more complete games of the season, albeit against an inferior opponent, the Spartans use that tune-up to get out and run against a Louisville team that has some serious injury issues and is coming off a physically taxing test against South Florida.
Jeremy Fears Jr. returns to being an offensive threat in his head-to-head matchup with the Cardinals’ Ryan Conwell, one of the players who was banged up by the Bulls, and MSU fights and scraps its way to Washington and into Tom Izzo’s 17th Sweet 16, albeit in a close one. The pick: MSU 78, Louisville 73.
Shawn Windsor
When the Spartans make 3-pointers, they’re a Final Four team (and maybe a title team), and they looked like it against outmanned North Dakota State. For the first time in a couple weeks, MSU defended the 3-point line, and that’s a promising sign. The pick: MSU 74, Louisville 68.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State basketball vs Louisville picks: MSU up for an upset?
Reporting by Tony Garcia, Carlos Monarrez, Jeff Seidel, Chris Solari and Shawn Windsor, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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