Spartans headed to second straight Elite Eight

SYRACUSE, NY — Travis Trice led Michigan State with 24 points, including six points down the stretch, and Denzel Valentine chipped in with 18 to lead the No. 7 Spartans to a 62-58 win over the No. 3 Oklahoma Sooners in an East Regional semifinal at the Carrier Dome on Friday.

The win punched the Spartans’ ticket to their second straight trip to the Elite Eight and third in the last six years. The Sooners were seeking their first Elite Eight appearance since 2009.

Guard Buddy Hield led the Sooners (24-11) with 21 points and forward TaShawn Thomas had 16.

The Sooners led 31-27 at the half, but a short jumper by Valentine, who had 13 of his 18 points in the second half, tied the score at 39 with 14:31 to go in the game.

The teams traded buckets, but the Spartans took the lead for good on a short jumper by Branden Dawson with 7:26 to go that gave MSU a 46-45 lead. A put-back slam by Matt Costello, a 3-pointer by Valentine and another three by Trice extended the margin to 54-49 with 5:00 to go. Two foul shots by Thomas brought the Sooners to 54-51 but a jumper by Trice from the right side pushed the lead to 56-51 with 2:03 remaining.

Guard Trice hit four free throws and guard Valentine netted two from the charity stripe for Michigan State (26-11) in the final 1:19 to keep Oklahoma at bay.

Hield scored 11 points and guard Jordan Woodard added nine to lead the Sooners in the first 20 minutes. Trice led the Spartans with 10.

The Spartans were ice cold most of the first half, shooting just 33 percent, fueling Oklahoma’s transition game. The Sooners jumped to an 18-8 lead on a layup by forward Khadeem Lattin with 14:22 to go before halftime.

Michigan State closed to 25-21 on two free throws by Trice. The Sooners extended the margin to a 10-point lead again on the strength of a 3-pointer from Woodard and a layup by Hield.

But the Spartans came back yet again on 3-pointers by Valentine and guard Bryn Forbes to close within four.

At one point, the Spartans hit just two of 16 field-goal attempts, but stayed in the game as the Sooners got cold as well, hitting just five of their last 21 shots of the first 20 minutes.

NOTES: The Spartans and Sooners had met once before in the NCAA Tournament, in the 1999 Sweet 16. … Michigan State held an overall record of 6-3 against the Sooners after Friday. … Michigan State held its first two NCAA Tournament opponents, Georgia and Virginia, to a 32 percent field-goal shooting, including 19 percent from the 3-point stripe. … The Spartans’ Tom Izzo ranks sixth among active coaches in NCAA Tournament winning percentage. … The Sweet 16 appearance was Oklahoma’s first since 2009 when the Sooners advanced to the round of eight. … Oklahoma’s Lon Kruger is the first coach in Division 1 history to lead five different programs to at least one NCAA Tournament win. … Oklahoma is one of just six teams nationally — the only one among the Power Five conferences — that started the same five players in every game.