Michigan State Reaches Sweet 16, Beats Saint Louis In NCAA Tournament

COLUMBUS, OH - MARCH 18: Draymond Green #23 and Brandon Wood #30 of the Michigan State Spartans celebrate after a basket against the St. Louis Billikens in the second half during the third round of the 2012 NCAA Men's basketball tournament at Nationwide Arena on March 18, 2012 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images)

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Draymond Green scored 16 points with 13 rebounds and set up Keith Appling's late 3-pointer, giving top-seeded Michigan State a 65-61 win over Saint Louis on Sunday and sending the Spartans to the round of 16 in the West Regional of the NCAA tournament.

Michigan State will play No. 4 seed Louisville on Thursday in Phoenix.

Appling added 19 points for the Spartans (29-7), who had to scrap their way past the ninth-seeded Billikens (26-8). Saint Louis controlled the tempo but never got a complete handle on Green, Michigan State's superb senior. He added six assists and even helped mop up sweat off the floor in the final minute.

Kwamain Mitchell scored 13 and Brian Conklin 11 for Saint Louis, back in the tournament for the first time since 2000.

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Comments

[Autismmomx4]

08:51 PM on 03/19/2012

Happy, happy Spartan here! MSU Class of 1983.

[Spartan112]

04:03 PM on 03/19/2012

GO GREEN!

[frank day]

09:10 AM on 03/19/2012

Congratulations to both teams.

The Billikins can hold their heads high after a terrific season. Coach Majerus had them competing with the best teams in college basketball without giving an inch.

MSU can be as good as they want to be. It doesn't need to be said how good Izzo is at
recruiting and coaching talent.

[DutchUncleAl]

11:57 PM on 03/18/2012

Go MSU! From not being ranked in the top 25 at the beginning of the season and opening against UNC and Duke to being one of the top teams in the Nation. Pretty good play.

[Karn]

12:25 AM on 03/19/2012

They might take it all.

[OneTop]

09:35 PM on 03/18/2012

Izzo has the team on a roll.

[silverwolf13]

08:19 PM on 03/19/2012

The Bills will be back next year.