Sweet 16 Matchup Preview: Kansas State

March 21, 2023: Once again the Spartans find themselves on a little bit of a run in March. How far it goes is yet to be determined but their next obstacle are the Kansas State Wildcats. The Wildcats are the 3 seed and defeated Montana State and Kentucky to make their first trip to the second weekend since 2018 where they made it to the Elite 8 and lost to Loyola-Chicago.

Kansas State, out of the tough Big 12, has made this run largely on the backs of its defense and two players: 5'8" PG Marquis Nowell and 6'6" Keyontae Johnson. The diminutive PG was spectacular against Kentucky and Johnson has been a steady three level threat at the 4 for the Wildcats all season. The main weakness of this team is defensive rebounding which MSU is well below average for a Tom Izzo team.

The big questions for Michigan State is whether they will be able to find their range again from distance. Despite winning their first two tournament games, they have shot an abysmal 7-30 (23.3%) for 3 which is well below their season average. Obviously, they have to continue to play their best connected defense of the season but it is hard to imagine them continuing to advance without hitting their staple offensive juice from deep.

Are you looking for Spartan gear? There’s only one place to go to get your MSU T-shirts, hoodies, sweatshirts — Nudge Printing. Nudge is owned and operated by Gabe and Brittany, two MSU alums. The business is operated out of Michigan and screen prints super high quality products. They also have a large assortment of apparel for other schools as well as stickers for your wall, car, or computer. You can also buy our merchandise to sport around town where all the sales proceeds go to support the show.

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