PUNK’D: Michigan State downs UNM in NCAA’s 2nd Round
CLEVELAND – Call it a Sweet 16 flu.
The UNM men’s basketball team can’t seem to get over the hump and put itself in quarantine from the sweetness of an NCAA Tournament Third Round appearance.
In the 2025 rendition of March Madness, the No. 10-seeded Lobos of the South Region dropped another second-round game.
This time the culprit: Hall of Fame head coach Tom Izzo and his No. 2-seeded Michigan State Spartans.
MSU outlasted – with physical play and bully ball – UNM late in the first half and in the majority of the second half to the tune of a 71-63 victory in Rocket Arena.
UNM head men’s basketball coach Richard Pitino said he was proud of what UNM accomplished in 2024-25.
“We did so many great things all year. To win a title in back-to-back years, to go back to the NCAA Tournament and go to the round of 32,” Pitino said. “Michigan State is a terrific team. They’re physical and tough… Give them credit: it's a championship program. It's a program that we're trying to build towards.”
UNM was not intimidated by MSU or the majority of Spartan faithful in Rocket Arena (East Lansing, Mich, home of Michigan State’s campus is roughly three and half hours from Cleveland).
The Lobos jumped out to a 10-2 lead in the first four minutes. Mustapha Amzil – who missed time late in the season because of plantar fasciitis – scored five points of his 14 for the game.
“(Michigan State) had a lot of energy from the fans,” Amzil said. “We had some turnovers, kind of gave it to them at the end. I think we had the game in our hands, and it just slipped away. We should have finished a little bit better.”
UNM led the entire first half and was up 29-20 after Amzil's second 3-pointer of the first half with 4:41 to go.
But Michigan State closed the half on a 9-2 run capped by a Tre Hollomon free throw.
“That was as good of a barrage as we've had hit us (all season),” Izzo said. “It wasn't that we were down a lot - 10 points - but it just seemed like we weren't guarding, and they were making shots. Give them credit.”
MSU Jaden Akins scored 16 points but none were bigger than the 3-pointer he hit to put the Spartans up 54-51 with 7:07 left in the game.
Sparty never looked back.
Nelly Junior Joseph – who had 16 double-doubles this season and hadn’t fouled out of a game since 2023-24 – had 16 points.
Nelly racked up three fouls in the final nine minutes.
“My only gripe was the fourth foul with Nelly. I thought that was the only call,” Pitino said.
Mountain West Conference Player of the Year Donovan Dent was held in check by the MSU defense.
Dent who averaged 20 points and six assists per game in 2024-25, was held to 14 points on 7-of-18 shooting. Dent also didn’t attempt a free throw against Michigan State.
“Dent is a hell of a player. But I thought we got our break going when we got our defense got going, and we rebounded the ball pretty well,” Izzo said. “That's a talented, well-coached team and I'm just happy we got the win. I'm happy we showed a little character after we got down and weren't playing very well.”
Rick Pitino – father of Richard – flew out to the game in Cleveland and sat in the front row. Pitino and his St. John’s squad were eliminated on Saturday in loss to Arkansas.
“It's not like he was coming home from war or something,” Pitino said of his father. “I do talk to him a lot and see him a lot. I'm grateful he came, but he flew on a private plane, as well. So, let's not crown him Father of the Year just yet.”
This is Michigan State’s 16th Sweet 16 appearance since Izzo took over the program in 1995. The Spartans will face Mississippi in a South Region semifinal in Atlanta on Friday.
Izzo said all his teams are just built tough and that is why he’s seen such success in 30 years in East Lansing, Mich.
“That's kind of what we are. We defend, rebound and run,” Izzo said. “Yet for the year, we've scored almost 78 points a game. Where we let down a little bit, is our free-throw shooting. It hasn't been as good lately and that has to be addressed this week because in a tournament that's how you win games.”
UNM has made it to the NCAA Tournament’s Second Round seven times since the 1985 expansion of the tournament. UNM is now 0-7 all time in the round of 32. That is the most appearances without advancing to the Sweet 16 by any school.
