Michigan State has a good mix of young and old players, but the veterans pushed the Spartans to the Sweet 16. Jaden Akins (team-high 16 points), Tre Holloman (14 points) and Frankie Fidler (10 points) did the heavy lifting in No. 2 Michigan State’s 71-63 second-round victory over No. 10 New Mexico on March 23 at Rocket Arena. The Spartans (29-6) move on to a South Region semifinal against No. 6 Ole Miss on March 28 in Atlanta. “You know, we started out slow, so I was just trying to bring some juice off the bench with my scoring and then my defense,” Holloman said. “Just like being a leader, being a point guard out there, being the captain, just trying to go out there and just play hard for my teammates.” PHOTOS: Michigan State vs. New Mexico men’s basketball, March 23, 2025 This game was a difficult one for the Spartans. New Mexico (27-8) came out swinging and scored the first seven points. The Lobos never trailed in the first half as the Spartans struggled shooting early on. Freshman phenom Jase Richardson was held scoreless until 1:32 remaining in the game and Michigan State was in dire need of offense. When adversity hit, MSU’s seasoned guards stepped up. Akins has had his own shooting woes this season but he was ready in this game. He only shot four 3-pointers but made two of them and both came at key times in the second half. Akins’ first triple gave the Spartans a 44-39 lead with 13:12 remaining. New Mexico later rallied to tie it back up at 51-51, but Akins gave his team the lead for good on a 3-pointer at the end of the shot clock. “Yeah, I feel like it was pretty big just giving us the lead,” Akins said. “It gave us some momentum. I think they called a time-out, so that just gave us a lot of confidence. It felt good. I ain’t been shooting good, so it just felt good to be efficient today.” Following Akins’ 3-pointer, Fidler took over. His and-one put the Spartans up five and it was the first of three buckets in a row. Fidler has had his ups and downs this season but played one of his best games when it mattered most. “Frankie plays a little more physical, a little tougher, and probably our fault we tried playing him at the 3 a lot. He can play the 3, but he’s more effective at the 4 when he can — do some things against guys not maybe bigger than him, but maybe not quite as quick as some of those wings are,” Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. “I just thought he made some muscle plays. He has the ability to get fouled.” This will be Michigan State’s 16th trip to the Sweet 16 in Izzo’s 27-year NCAA Tournament streak. Izzo said this isn’t his most talented team but has said many times this is one of his closest teams. The Spartans make up for their talent deficiencies by playing with energy and together. It showed late in the game when the veterans answered the call. “I thought tonight it was interesting, I had three different players ask to come out of the game because they were tired,” Izzo said. “That for me was the greatest thing that happened because that means they’re spelling it, and that’s what I asked them to do, spell it.” ...read more read less