The Michigan State Spartans are preparing for a Sweet Sixteen match-up with the Ole Miss Rebels this Friday as they look to continue their run in the NCAA Tournament. 

This will be the second time the two teams have faced off in their program’s history, with the Spartans taking the only other game. Coincidentally enough, that game came in the second round of the Big Dance in 1999. 

Chris Beard’s Rebels are currently playing excellent basketball, coming off of a dismantling of the Iowa State Cyclones in the Round of 32. It will take MSU’s A-plus game to move on to the Elite Eight. 

However, Tom Izzo’s team has not played its best basketball despite winning both games by solid margins. The Spartans have struggled in a few key areas that could come back to bite them against the Rebels if they are not careful.

MSU has not been particularly sharp when taking care of the basketball. The Spartans have committed 20 turnovers through their first two tournament games. 

New Mexico’s aggressive defense often forced the ball out of MSU’s hands on Sunday evening, which is something that cannot happen against a stingy Beard-coached team. 

Ole Miss ranked eighth out of all tournament teams in turnovers forced with 14.2 per game. MSU must hold onto the basketball, or the Rebels will convert on its mistakes. 

Another issue that has come up in these two games has been the Spartans’ free-throw shooting. A reliable team in the regular season, the Spartans have struggled at the line through their first two games. 

MSU has connected on 34-of-49 free-throw attempts, good for 69.4 percent. Izzo’s team hit on almost 78 percent of its free throws in the regular season, so this drop in efficiency has been concerning. 

Of course, the Spartans have struggled from beyond the arc all season, but the issue looked especially glaring against the Lobos. MSU hit just 4-of-15 3-pointers, something that cannot happen against a Rebels team that has hit on 49 percent of its attempts this postseason. 

Outside of the 3-point shooting, these issues are fundamental concerns that will drive Izzo crazy. He will harp on them this week to ensure his team does not struggle with them on Friday night. 

Quite simply, MSU cannot afford to, or they won’t see the Elite Eight.

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TAMPA BAY, Fla. — Hours following On3’s Pete Nakos reporting that UNLV had keyed in on former Alabama assistant and then-Arkansas State head coach Bryan Hodgson, the 37-year-old did a 180, inking a six-year deal with the USF Bulls to become their 12th head coach in program history.

Hodgson succeeds the late Amir Abdur-Rahim as the next South Florida head coach, who tragically passed away in October due to complications with an unannounced medical procedure.

Hodgson was reportedly nearing the final stages of a deal with UNLV. However, the South Florida brass came in with a “more compelling offer” and scooped up Hodgson.

During his two years in Jonesboro, Ark., Hodgson compiled a 45-28 record and took a share of the 2025 Sun Belt regular season title. Hodgson served as Nate Oats’ lead recruiter during his time in Tuscaloosa, taking charge of the recruitments of 5-star Brandon Miller and Jaden Bradley.

South Florida is coming off a 13-19 season as Hodgson will look to bring the Bulls back to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2012.

For more Alabama Baseball, Basketball, and Football content from Simon Besnoy, follow him on Twitter at @SimonBesnoy and stay tuned to Tide1009.com for daily news.

CLEVELAND–– Alabama basketball is rolling into the Sweet 16 for the third straight season under Nate Oats.

The 2-seed Crimson Tide beat 7-seed Saint Mary’s 80-66 inside Rocket Arena in Cleveland on Saturday night behind a balanced scoring effort and a couple highlight-reel dunks.

“I thought we had great leadership tonight, showed a lot of toughness,” Oats said after the game. “We said the tougher team is going to win this one, and that’s one of the tougher teams in the country. Our guys really stepped up and met the challenge there tonight.”

Saint Mary’s came into the game as one of the slowest-playing teams in the country and had not allowed a team to score 80 or more points in a game since 2022.

Alabama’s defense was stifling in the first half. Rebounding was an emphasis from Oats coming into the game, and the Tide dominated on the boards in the first half. Saint Mary’s clawed its way back in the second half in both categories, but the Crimson Tide was too much to overcome.

The first 10 minutes of the game were going exactly the way Saint Mary’s wants to play with the teams tied at 13-13 at the under-12 media timeout. Alabama forward Grant Nelson hit a 3-pointer out of the timeout, and that seemed to unlock the Crimson Tide offense.

Alabama held Saint Mary’s without a field goal for over five minutes and was able to build up a double-digit lead and headed into halftime up 42-29. Because of foul trouble, Mark Sears only played 11 minutes in the first half. Other Crimson Tide players were able to step up and pick up some of his normal workload.

The Gaels showed some fight in the second half and would never let the Tide fully pull away, but every time Alabama needed an answer, it got one. The game was never truly in doubt. Saint Mary’s only led for 30 seconds total in the game.

Six different Crimson Tide players finished in double figures led by Chris Youngblood with 13. Clifford Omoruyi had a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds, including this reverse dunk that got the Crimson Tide crowd on its feet.

“That’s what we’re known for really is how deep our team is and how fast we play,” Alabama forward Derrion Reid said.

Alabama will face 6-seed BYU in the Sweet 16 in Newark, New Jersey on Thursday. The tipoff time will be announced later tonight.

“We’re going to have to really lock in and coaches are going to have to really do a good job getting our guys ready and then our guys are going to have to execute the plan is whatever we decide to put in and we’re going to have to make adjustments to it because I’m sure he’ll make adjustments,” Oats said about facing BYU. “Yeah, I’m looking forward to playing in the Sweet 16.”