Connect with us
DAPA Banner

Sports

Michigan State basketball rally falls short in Sweet 16 loss to UConn

Published

on

WASHINGTON − Just like in so many games this season, Michigan State basketball basketball opened a game ice-cold.

And just like in so many of those games, the Spartans climbed out of their hole to make it a game. But this time, in the East region semifinal at Capital One Arena, the hole was just a little too deep, the second-half comeback stopped a basket or two short, as 3-seed MSU fell to 2-seed Connecticut, 67-63, on Friday, March 27.

Advertisement

In what wound up as their final game of the 2025-26 season, in coach Tom Izzo’s 17th Sweet 16, the Spartans head home, while the Huskies advance to the Elite Eight. UConn will face 1-seed Duke on Sunday (5:05 p.m., CBS) for a spot in next weekend’s Final Four.

Advertisement
Michigan State forward Cameron Ward (3) and Michigan State center Carson Cooper (15) go up for the defense rebound over Connecticut forward Jayden Ross (23) during the first half of the 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball East Regional game against UConn at Capital One Arena in Washington DC on Friday, March 27, 2026.

Michigan State forward Cameron Ward (3) and Michigan State center Carson Cooper (15) go up for the defense rebound over Connecticut forward Jayden Ross (23) during the first half of the 2026 NCAA Men’s Basketball East Regional game against UConn at Capital One Arena in Washington DC on Friday, March 27, 2026.

JEFF SEIDEL: This player helps Michigan State ‘win a lot more than people know’

Coen Carr paced the Spartans with 13 points, while Jeremy Fears Jr. added 11 points, Jaxon Kohler had 12 points and Carson Cooper finished with 14 points.

Tarris Reed Jr. dominated in the paint for UConn, with 20 points and a key rebound of a missed Cooper free throw in the closing seconds, while Solo Ball added 12, Alex Karaban had 17 and Braylon Mullins posted eight.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Déjà vu

The start looked eerily similar to MSU’s 76-69 exhibition loss to UConn on Oct. 28 in Hartford, Connecticut. Almost identical, actually.

The Spartans started off that fall game going just 2-for-13, and they were an even more abysmal 2-for-16 to open the Sweet 16 matchup. MSU went 8 minutes, 46 seconds between buckets after a Fears jumper at 18:44 and a Carr layup at 9:58.

Meantime, the Huskies banged in six of their first seven 3-point attempts and ripped off a 22-2 run between Spartan field goals. The Huskies also had six of their nine 3s in the exhibition win by halftime.

And just like in October, MSU found itself trailing by 19 points – only this time, it was less than 10 minutes into the game instead of midway through the second half.

Advertisement

Advertisement

HOW IT ALL STARTED: 1st Sweet 16 for Tom Izzo sent Michigan State basketball to a new high

But as they did in the game that didn’t count, the Spartans slogged their way back slowly and methodically. Back-to-back layups by Carr and Kohler for a 4-0 run. A Fears steal and breakaway up-and-under around Reed, then a dish from the All-American point guard to Cooper for an alley-oop. The rough seas began to calm, and the tide started to shift.

After Reed drew Cooper’s second foul with a nifty post-up spin move with 3:09 left before intermission, the former Michigan big man missed the free throw. At the other end, Fears accepted a pick from Kohler, then fed his forward on the pop for MSU’s first 3-pointer after six early misses. Then Jordan Scott drove and hit a cutting Carr for another layup. UConn started to flub up, and Kohler hit a pair of free throws with 1:26 left.

Advertisement

Ball attacked and scored with just over a minute to go, but Fears countered at the other end with his own driving layup. The Spartans got another late defensive stop and somehow clawed their way back to within 35-27 at halftime – better than their 11-point hole in October.

Advertisement

Despite going just 10-for-29, with Kohler’s triple the only one in eight attempts. Despite turning the ball over five times that led to eight points for the Huskies, who shot 56% but didn’t make another 3-pointer in the final 10:37 after their sizzling start. And despite getting outscored 5-2 in transition against UConn’s long-limbed defense.

Kohler had nine points and Carr seven at the break. Fears was just 3-for-8 for six points, while freshmen Scott and Cam Ward combined for nine rebounds in a 20-13 halftime edge on the glass.

Advertisement

Reed and Ball each scored eight at the break, but it was a combined effort as the Huskies had five others add three or more points.

Michigan State guard Jeremy Fears Jr. (1) looks for an open man during the first half as UConn defends during the 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball East Regional game against UConn at Capital One Arena in Washington DC on Friday, March 27, 2026.

Michigan State guard Jeremy Fears Jr. (1) looks for an open man during the first half as UConn defends during the 2026 NCAA Men’s Basketball East Regional game against UConn at Capital One Arena in Washington DC on Friday, March 27, 2026.

What’s next for MSU

The Spartans end their season one round short of last year’s Elite Eight trip and two wins shy of another Final Four trip to Indianapolis for Izzo, who is now 61-27 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and 11-6 in his 17 Sweet 16 appearances. It also ends the season for senior starters Kohler and Cooper, who went 57-15 over their final two seasons. MSU also loses Trey Fort, Denham Wojcik and Nick Sanders to graduation, and whatever might transpire with potential portal defections, as Izzo experienced last season. Arriving to potentially join Fears, Carr and the others is one of the nation’s best recruiting classes – the group of center Ethan Taylor, shooting guard Jasiah Jervis, point guard Carlos Medlock Jr., and forward Julius Avent – is ranked No. 2 according to 247 Sports’ composite rankings. MSU also is expected to get back swingman Kaleb Glenn from a summer 2025 knee injury that cost him the season and guard Divine Ugochukwu from a foot injury that ended his season in early February.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State basketball rally runs short in Sweet 16 loss to UConn

Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading
Click to comment

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Leave a Reply

Sports

Trump says he feels ‘so badly’ after Tiger Woods’ rollover crash in Florida

Published

on

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

President Donald Trump addressed the daytime rollover crash involving Tiger Woods Friday that resulted in the 15-time major winner being arrested on a DUI charge after authorities suspected he was driving impaired. 

Speaking to reporters after arriving in Miami, the president spoke briefly about Woods. He said he was only aware of the accident at the time he made his remarks. 

Tiger Woods flipped car accident

Golfer Tiger Woods stands by his overturned vehicle in Jupiter Island, Fla., Friday, March 27, 2026.  (Jason Oteri/AP)

“I feel so badly. He’s got some difficulty,” Trump said. “There was an accident, and that’s all I know. Very close friend of mine. He’s an amazing person, an amazing man, but some difficulty.”

Advertisement

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

Woods is in a relationship with the president’s former daughter-in-law, Vanessa Trump.

He competed in the TGL championship earlier this week, where Vanessa Trump and her daughter, Kai Trump, were spotted in the stands. It was Woods’ return to competitive golf after he ruptured his Achilles last year ahead of the Masters.

Trump previously spoke out about the pair’s relationship, saying he gave Woods his blessing when they first spoke about it. 

Advertisement
Tiger Woods and Donald Trump

President Donald Trump presents the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Tiger Woods during an event at the White House in the Rose Garden.  (Scott Taetsch/USA Today Sports)

“He told me about it, and I said, ‘Tiger, that’s good, that’s good. I’m very happy for both.’ But they just let them both be happy. Let them both be happy. They’re both great,” Trump said in March 2025. 

TIGER WOODS ARRESTED ON DUI CHARGE IN FLORIDA AFTER ROLLOVER CRASH: ‘THIS COULD’VE BEEN A LOT WORSE’

Woods was charged with DUI, property damage and refusal to submit to a test after law enforcement said his vehicle collided with another vehicle Friday afternoon while he was driving impaired.

“DUI investigators came to the scene here, and Mr. Woods did exemplify signs of impairment. They did several tests on him. Of course, he did explain the injuries and the surgeries that he had. We did take that into account, but they did do some in-depth roadside tests,” Martin County Sheriff John Budensiek said during a news conference Friday.

Advertisement
Tiger Woods rollover crash

This photo provided by the Martin County Sheriff’s Office shows skid marks near the overturned vehicle in a rollover crash involving Tiger Woods in Jupiter Island, Fla., Friday, March 27, 2026.  (Martin County Sheriff’s Office via AP)

“We really weren’t suspicious of alcohol being involved in this case, and that proved to be true at the jail. … But when it came time for us to ask for a urinalysis test, he refused. And, so, he’s been charged with DUI, with property damage and refusal to submit to a lawful test.”

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

The five-time Augusta National winner was noncommittal about playing at this year’s Masters recently, but Trump said during an interview on “The Five” Thursday that Woods would be at Augusta but would not play.

Fox News Digital’s Ryan Morik contributed to this report. 

Advertisement

Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Sports

3 players who could pick up the most wickets in today’s RCB vs SRH match

Published

on

The 19th edition of IPL 2026 will kick off on Saturday, March 28. Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) will lock horns with the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the season opener at their fortress – M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

The Rajat Patidar-led side will have a challenging game as they are without their premier bowler, Josh Hazlewood, for their opening game. Meanwhile, Yash Dayal is unavailable for the entire season due to personal reasons. There are also question marks about Nuwan Thusara, who is yet to receive a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) due to fitness issues.

Similarly, SRH will be without their regular captain and ace pacer, Pat Cummins. They recently replaced injured Jack Edwards with David Payne. In this article, we take a look at three bowlers who might emerge as the leading wicket-takers in the opening game of the 2026 season. Take a look below:

Harshal Patel

Harshal Patel - Source: GettyHarshal Patel - Source: Getty
Harshal Patel – Source: Getty

Harshal Patel is often known as Purple Patel owing to his promising record in the IPL. The speedster has scalped 151 wickets in 119 matches at an economy rate of 8.86. The 35-year-old is only third active pacer to bag more than 150 wickets in the tournament after Bhuvneshwar Kumar (198) and Jasprit Bumrah (183). Notably, Patel took 32 and 24 wickets in the 2021 and 2024 editions for RCB and Punjab Kings (PBKS), respectively.

Harshal is known for his ability to vary pace, which yields him the results, particularly in the death overs. The Gujarat-born pacer took 16 wickets in 13 matches at an economy rate of 9.80, including two four-fers in IPL 2025. Against RCB, he has scalped seven wickets in six games at an economy rate of 10.91, including 3/38. The SunRisers retained for INR 8 crore ahead of IPL 2026 auction.

Krunal Pandya

Krunal Pandya - Source: GettyKrunal Pandya - Source: Getty
Krunal Pandya – Source: Getty

Krunal Pandya proved to be one of the Most Valuable Players (MVPs) for RCB last season. The left-arm spinner picked up 17 wickets in 15 matches at an economy rate of 8.23. With 3/29 against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), he made an impressive debut for the Bengaluru-based franchise before returning with career-best figures of 4/45 against the Mumbai Indians (MI).

Pandya is equally effective in the powerplay as in the slog overs. With 93 scalps in 142 games, he’s on the verge of completing his 100 wickets in the T20 league. The 2025 champions retained him for INR 5.75 crore ahead of the IPL 2026 season.

Shivam Mavi

Shivam Mavi - Source: GettyShivam Mavi - Source: Getty
Shivam Mavi – Source: Getty

SRH bought Shivam Mavi at a steal of INR 75 lakh at the IPL 2026 auction. The medium pacer has established a solid experience during his stint with KKR from 2018 to 2022, picking up 30 wickets in 32 matches at an economy rate of 8.70. He then warmed the bench with the Gujarat Titans (GT) before an injury cut short his stint with the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in 2024. As a result, Mavi will be keen to make the most of his comeback. Earlier this year, he picked up 7/59 against Vidarbha in a first-class match.

Besides IPL, Mavi has also tasted international experience. In addition, he has represented India in six T20Is, picking up seven wickets at an economy rate of 8.78. With skipper Cummins ruled out of the first matches for the SunRisers, Mavi might be Harshal’s new partner in crime in the fast-bowling department. While Harshal will try to create pressure from the other end, Mavi could be one bearing the fruit.

Advertisement