What Are the Spartans Saying About Carolina?

CHARLOTTE - Michigan State finds itself on the verge of its second consecutive Sweet Sixteen after taking care of Mississippi State, 69-51, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday at Spectrum Center.

Standing in the Soartans' is North Carolina, which is 22-1 in its last 23 NCAA Tournament games against opponents seeded ninth or lower.

For Spartans Coach Tom Izzo, Saturday’s tilt provides the opportunity to earn his first tournament win against the Tar Heels, who are 4-0 in the postseason against the Hall of Fame coach. UNC is 5-0 overall against MSU in the big dance dating back to a triple-overtime win in the national semifinals in 1957.

On the court, the Spartans seek their first victory over a No. 1 seed in the Round of 32, having dropped bother previous decisions.

They are 0-1 this year against the ACC, with a loss to Duke, and UNC presents perhaps the biggest test of the season.

The Tar Heels sit 7th in the country in rebounding at 41.2 per game and 20th in scoring with 81.7 points per contest.

Ahead of their Round of 32 tilt, Izzo and the Spartans spoke with the media about facing off against North Carolina. Here are their takes and scouting report on UNC:

Q. Two-parter. Number one, what's your relationship like with Hubert Davis? Are you guys close? Secondly, do you see any similarities just in the early scout between the way he coaches and some of those old Roy teams?

TOM IZZO: Yeah, just saw him in the hallway. We hugged and kissed and everything. It was great. No, I've known Hubert for a long time. When he was doing TV, I got a chance to spend time with him then. I think one of the great guys in our profession. He does it the right way. He's been brought up well. I'm a big Roy Williams fan.

He's putting his own mark on it, like I had to do with Jud Heathcote. But what I will tell Hubert someday, when you get one of those jobs from guys who have been in it a long time, you always kind of say to yourself, I'm going to change this a little bit and I'm going to change that a little bit. I remember telling my secretary who had been with Jud for 20 years and me as my years got into it, I said, Lori, now I know why Jud did this and now I know. I bet Hubert does the same thing. When you have success Roy does. I think tweaking the offense or defense or things like that is normal and he should put his own stamp on it. But I bet you he'll run the program very similar because, if it ain't broke, why fix it? And it ain't broke.

Q. Tyson Walker was talking about RJ Davis and their relationship, you mentioned the president of your school earlier, all these kinds of connections. But just in general, what does it mean to you to go up against one of these kinds of programs, giving it a shot? TOM IZZO: “When you look at my record in the NCAA against them, it doesn't feel very good at all. But the opportunity to change that and the opportunity to go against people -- I still talk to Roy quite a bit. I've always had great respect for their program and the way they've done it. I used to work Michael Jordan's fantasy camp, so it goes way, way back. It means a lot to me. Hubert's done a great job when you look at his years, and going to a Final Four his first year. So it's all good. The president, the women's team playing, the relationship with players, those are all good. But come 5:30 it's the Hatfields and the McCoys, and then at 7:30 it's back to hugging and kissing, I guess.”

Q. Malik, you guys have seen [bigs] like Edey, for example, as a talented big. What is the matchup for going up against a guy like Bacot, as experienced as he is for you guys going to be like?

MALIK HALL: We've played some outstanding bigs over the years. Edey, obviously, a heck of a player. Bacot obviously brings a little different of a challenge, All-American. I think it gives us a different advantage playing Edey a couple of times and being able to bump and bang with him. I think that will help us for sure. Bacot is a different player, a little more agile, I would say, a little more bump and bang. I think it will be interesting and will help us for sure, though, having that experience in the past.”

Q. In terms of guard play, how important is that in the NCAA tournament? And do you think you have an advantage due to your experience against a freshman like Cadeau?

TYSON WALKER: “Experience does help. I played a lot of games in my career. Just being in a different situation, knowing how to handle it. Guard play is definitely important. We're the ones controlling the game for the most part. We know we have to handle the ball. So just making sure that we play well is really important.”

MALIK HALL: I'm not a guard, but I value these guys. I think their experience helps a long way. I think, as it comes to tournament time, there's more pressure, there's more just emotion, and there's a lot that comes into each and every game. I think that experiencing and having experienced it and going further into the tournament, I think it will become more and more important. I think that helps a lot.

A.J. HOGGARD: “I think guard play definitely matters. It's something that Coach speaks on all the time. It's something we've got to come to the game prepared and ready to play and do a good job of taking their guards out of their rhythm.”

Q. Tyson, I was talking with RJ yesterday, and he was telling me how you used to be teammates and then played against each other in high school. Can you talk about your relationship with him and what it's going to be like to face off against him tomorrow.

TYSON WALKER: “I've known RJ for a really long time. We've had some good games against each other. So just to be able to play at this level against each other, there's going to be a lot of people watching our senior years. It's going to be big time. Hopefully we both can play well.”