No. 9 Northern Iowa Panthers vs. No. 5 Michigan State Spartans

The No. 9 seed, of the Midwest division, Northern Iowa Panthers will be facing off against the No. 5 seed Michigan State Spartans this Friday, March 26, 2010. Tipoff will be at 9:30 pm eastern time and they will be battling at Edward Jones Dome in St. Lou

2010-03-23

Michigan State came into the season ranked No. 2 in both national polls and was expected to contend for a national championship this season but inconsistent play, especially on the road, proved to be the main issue for the Michigan State Spartans.

Michigan State has won a pair of nail biters (70 to 67 over New Mexico State and 85 to 83 over Maryland) in the first two rounds of the 2010 NCAA Tournament to advance to its 9th Sweet Sixteen since 1998. The biggest blow to the Michigan State Spartans will be playing without their star player, point guard Kalin Lucas for the rest of the tourney. However, if the team's win over Maryland in round two was any sign, Korie Luscious is the next best thing to fill in. Luscious hit a three pointer as time ended to give Michigan State an 85 to 83 victory after point guard Lucas went down with two minutes to play in the first half.

Northern Iowa has to be the biggest surprise of all the mid-major teams still alive in NCAA Tourney. The Panthers faced a streaking UNLV team that seemed to finally be getting healthy in round one and, while it wasn’t the biggest of upsets, what happened next against Kansas destroyed many brackets around the world, especially mine. Northern Iowa has played great basketball through the first two rounds, taking care of the basketball, taking advantage of its opportunities at the free throw line and forcing opponents into mistakes. More importantly, however, the Panthers have gotten big plays when they have needed them most, especially from guard Ali Farokhmanesh who has made game winners in each of the Panthers first two games. Northern Iowa has been playing tight defense and controlling the tempo and they will have to continue to do so against a well-coached Michigan State team in the Sweet Sixteen.

Northern Iowa Panthers are shooting 39.5 percent from the field, while the Michigan State Spartans are shooting about 44 percent. MSU has the rebounding advantage, 32.3 to 28.6. They are also committing fewer turnovers, 10.8 to 13.2. But the biggest stat which I think will make or break the game for the Panthers is the three point department. Northern Iowa is making 6.2 three pointers on 33.7 percent from behind the arc, while MSU is making only 4.7 three pointers at 32.3 percent behind the line. For the Panthers to beat the favorite Spartans in this game their three point stroke is going to have to be on point.

The bookies haven’t set the lines as of today, but I’m sure by the end of the day www.sportsbook.com will have the lines up. The favorites will be the Michigan State Spartans, that’s a no brainer, but watching Northern Iowa play against Kansas the other day, makes me want to think they might be the Cinderella team of this year’s tournament.

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