ATLANTA — Jace Richardson scored 24 points and Michigan State surged past Mississippi in the second half for a 73-70 victory Friday night in the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16.
Ole Miss (24-12) was denied in its bid for its first Elite Eight appearance despite leading by 10 points in the first half and by nine in the second half.
Michigan State (30-6), the South Region’s No. 2 seed, rallied to keep alive coach Tom Izzo’s bid for his ninth Final Four and second national championship. The Spartans will play either No. 1 seed Auburn or rival Michigan on Sunday.
Izzo, in his 16th Sweet 16, earned his 59th NCAA Tournament win, breaking a tie with Jim Boeheim of Syracuse for fourth all time.
A drive and short jumper by Jaden Akins gave Michigan State a 65-63 lead. Following two misses by Rebels guard Dre Davis, Izzo called timeout with 57 seconds remaining and then pumped his fist as he welcomed his players back to the bench.
Following the timeout, Carson Cooper’s layup stretched the lead to 67-63, the Spartans’ biggest advantage of the game. A floater by Ole Miss guard Sean Pedulla, who led the Rebels with 24 points, cut the lead to two.
Ole Miss was making only its second Sweet 16 appearance after losing to Arizona 66-56 and failing to advance to the 2001 Elite Eight.
Tennessee 78, Kentucky 65
INDIANAPOLIS — Zakai Zeigler had 18 points and 10 assists, and Tennessee outhustled and outplayed Kentucky on both ends of the court in a victory Friday night that sent the Volunteers to a second consecutive Elite Eight.
The second-seeded Vols (30-7) beat their border rival in the first all-Southeastern Conference Sweet 16 matchup since 1986 and will play Sunday against Houston or Purdue in the Midwest Region final.
Chaz Lanier added 17 points and Jordan Gainey had 16 for the Vols, who lost twice to Kentucky in the regular season but prevailed on a much bigger stage this time.
No one enjoyed the show at Lucas Oil Stadium more than Peyton Manning, who was back in the town where he spent 13 years and won a Super Bowl with the Indianapolis Colts. The Vols’ most famous sports alum was in a bright orange ballcap seated behind the bench as Tennessee ran off with a no-doubt victory in the “House Peyton Built.”
Lamont Butler scored 18 points to lead first-year coach Mark Pope’s third-seeded Wildcats (24-12), who were held 20 points under their season scoring average. Their 65 points matched their fewest in a game this season.
The Vols did what they failed to do in their first two meetings with Kentucky. The Wildcats had shot 12 of 24 on 3-pointers in each of those games.
It was apparent early the Vols weren’t going to let the Wildcats and their 85-point-per game offense put up those kind of numbers again. Kentucky finished 6 of 15 from distance.
The Vols were in full control by the middle of the first half, using relentless defense and attacking the glass to generate offense and build a 19-point lead.
They generated 13 second-chance points off nine offensive rebounds on their way to a 43-28 lead at half, only the second time Kentucky has been held under 30 points in a first half this season. Tennessee coach Rick Barnes is now 15-0 in the NCAA Tournament when up by 10 or more at halftime.
The Vols picked up where they left off at the start the second half, forcing a shot-clock violation and an airball 3 by Koby Brea on Kentucky’s first two possessions. Their effort on the boards continued, too. They finished with 19 points on 14 offensive rebounds.
The Vols all but finished off the victory with under nine minutes to play after Butler cut the lead to 12. Felix Okpara chased down his missed shot and dunked it, and Lanier made a steal and passed to Ziegler. The 5-foot-9 Zeigler hit a 3 from the wing and then looked up and held a stare at the 6-10 Brandon Garrison, who was the nearest defender.
This was the fourth time in 11 years the Wildcats took a big loss in Indianapolis.
In 2015, they took a 38-0 record into their Final Four matchup at Lucas Oil Stadium and lost 71-64 to Wisconsin. They began the 2018-19 season with a 118-84 loss to Duke in a top-five matchup at nearby Gainbridge Fieldhouse, and three years later they lost their NCAA Tournament opener to No. 15 seed Saint Peter’s 85-79 in overtime at Gainbridge.
