On paper, a No. 7 seed vs a No. 10 seed is one of the best matchups that first round of the NCAA Tournament can provide. On Friday, Michigan State and Davidson delivered.
It was a close game throughout. But Tyson Walker knocked down a pair of free throws in the final seconds to give the Spartans a four-point lead. The Wildcats responded with a three-pointer Hyunjung Lee to cut the deficit. But when Michigan State got the ensuing inbounds pass in safely, the game was over and the Spartans survived with a 74-73 win.
The response to the game was positive throughout.
https://twitter.com/TomFornelli/status/1505022530591072257
While the game itself drew a positive reaction, one element of it did not. The referees seemed to take the game over in the final minutes, generally doing so in the favor of Michigan State. That did not go unnoticed.
The refs in this Davidson-Michigan State game pic.twitter.com/Ndb6kGFUWj
— Alex Gelhar (@AlexGelhar) March 19, 2022
Michigan State’s win did indeed set up a second-round matchup with No. 2 Duke. That game will pit two historic powerhouse programs against each other and will have two of the greatest coaches in college basketball history — Tom Izzo and Mike Krzyzewski — matching wits one final time.
Several viewers were excited about that matchup.
That’s a matchup that will no doubt have a lot of eyeballs on it. We can only hope the officiating is a little less prevalent during that game — as well as all others remaining.
About Michael Dixon
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