March Madness bracket update: Kansas crushes Michigan State to advance to Sweet 16

Michigan State staged a furious comeback midway through the second half of Sunday’s second round matchup with Kansas, pulling as close as one point, but the Jayhawks took things over down the stretch and dominated late to gain a 90-70 win. Kansas’ Josh Jackson led all scorers with 23 points, and his counterpart for Michigan State, Miles Bridges, threw in 22 in the losing effort.

Michigan State entered the game following something of an up-and-down year, finishing the season with an 18-13 record and No. 5 seed in the Big Ten tournament. Many were high on the Spartans in the preseason, but early season losses to Arizona, Kentucky, Baylor, and Duke soon booted them from the top 25. Still, Tom Izzo’s club knocked off Miami on Friday night to advance to the round of 32, doing so in dominant fashion in a 78-58 win.

Kansas led by as many as 11 late in the first half, but some sloppy play in the opening frame’s closing minutes allowed Michigan State to fight its way back into it, ending the period with a score of 40-35. Though taking a hard hit to his side and sitting out for a considerable stretch of the first half, Bridges had 13 points and three rebounds by recess. His matchup with Jackson was one of the tournament’s best duels thus far.

Michigan State’s freshman duo of Bridges and Nick Ward carried much of the load Sunday, combining to score 35 points and gather 12 rebounds. Ward got into foul trouble midway through the second half, though, which didn’t bother Sparty in the least, as Michigan State rode a 5-0 run to bring the score to 54-53 with 12 minutes left in the proceedings.

Still, Kansas’ talent and athleticism was in the end too much for Sparty, and led by Jackson’s 23 points and three rebounds, the Jayhawks pushed forward into the Sweet 16. They’ll face off with No. 4 Purdue on Thursday.