What a difference six years makes. New Mexico coach Richard Pitino won his second-career NCAA Tournament game on March 21 as his 10th-seeded Lobos defeated No. 7 Marquette, 75-66. They will now face No. 2 Michigan State in the second round on March 23 at Rocket Arena. Pitino’s first-ever NCAA tour nament win came in 2019 as his No. 10-seeded Minnesota Golden Gophers defeated No. 7 Louisville. Who did Pitino and Minnesota face in the second round? You guessed it, the No. 2-seed Michigan State Spartans. Related Articles College Sports | Alabama vs. Saint Mary’s men’s basketball: Contrasting styles makes for compelling second-round game College Sports | Michigan State men’s basketball: Coen Carr’s career-high game could be sign of more to come College Sports | New Mexico men’s basketball: Lobos show toughness down the stretch in 75-66 win over Marquette College Sports | Arizona overwhelms Akron in 93-65 NCAA tournament victory College Sports | PHOTOS: New Mexico-Marquette men’s NCAA tournament basketball, March 21, 2025 Pitino was fired at Minnesota two years later and is now in his fourth season at New Mexico. There are plenty of similarities to when he won his first tournament game, but the growth he has made since then also provides a lot of changes. “You’re always eager to grow and evolve and get better as a person, as a coach,” Pitino said. “I would say now more so than younger in my career. I understand it’s not about an out-of-bounds play, it’s not about an (after timeout). It’s about the program that you build and the culture that you build and the accountability, whether it’s with your staff, your players. It’s my job to get everybody on the same page, and if there’s any confusion, that’s my responsibility.” “So I would say I’ve definitely evolved to understand that’s more the job than anything else. I think when you’re a young head coach in the Big Ten especially, you’re just trying to kind of establish yourself. Humbly speaking, I’m not worried about that anymore. I’m just worried about doing my very best to help my players and my staff to help put them in the best positions possible.” Pitino is no stranger to squaring off with Tom Izzo. In Pitino’s eight years in the Big Ten with Minnesota, he faced Izzo 12 times, winning three. Pitino was only 30 years old when he was hired at Minnesota and along the way, received plenty of praise and advice from veteran colleagues. “He’s always been — win, lose, he’s just a coach’s coach,” Pitino said of Izzo. “The eight years that I was at Minnesota, it was love me, hate me, love me, hate me, it was rocky. We didn’t have a great amount of consistency, and he always fought for me for guys who were on the hot seat all the time, and he didn’t need to do that. He knows how hard it is at any job, and he’s just had an amazing amount of consistency.” Izzo has been known to stick up for other head coaches, including former Iowa coach Fran McCaffery before McCaffery was let go last week. Izzo has always thought highly of Pitino and hasn’t been afraid to show it. “It was a tough situation (Pitino) was in (at Minnesota),” Izzo said. “I did stick up for him. If Jud Heathcote, my old boss, who’s looking down right now, is mad at me that we don’t play more zone, I always said if you don’t stick up for coaches, who’s going to? So I looked at that as one of my jobs, especially if it was coaches I respect, and were doing it the right way, and he did. Of course, I know his dad. But when he was in the league, it was fun to talk to him. How do I think he’s grown? I don’t know on a day-to-day thing, because I know this, he’s winning more games, and I mean at a high level. He’s been consistent with that.” Tim Phillis’ photos from New Mexico-Marquette men’s NCAA tournament basketball March 21, 2025. Michigan State vs. New Mexico What: NCAA tournament second-round game When: 8:40 p.m., March 23 Where: Rocket Arena Records: Michigan State 28-6, New Mexico 27-7 TV: TNT ...read more read less