Some cherry picked items on Sparty's pre-game from their site.
EAST LANSING, Mich. - No. 10-seeded Michigan State will take on No. 7-seeded Iowa State on Monday, March 22 at 6 p.m. ET. The game will be televised on ESPN with Courtney Lyle and Carolyn Peck on the call. The Spartans enter the NCAA Tournament with a 15-8 record, while the Cyclones are 16-10.
• This is only the second time in MSU's NCAA Tournament history that the Spartans have been a 10 seed, also doing so in 2012, when Michigan State lost to No. 7-seeded Louisville, 67-55, in College Park, Maryland.
• In three games in the Big Ten Tournament, junior guard
Nia Clouden averaged 24.0 points per game, which earned her a spot on the Big Ten All-Tournament team.
• Against Indiana on March 11,
Nia Clouden became the fourth Michigan State player to score 30 points in a Big Ten Tournament game and the first since
Tori Jankoska's record-tying 31 points against Maryland on March 4, 2017. Two other Spartans also scored 31 in a tournament game — Liz Shimek vs. Iowa on March 3, 2006, and Aerial Powers vs. Ohio State on March 5, 2016.
• MSU is one of 26 teams to have both their men's and women's teams in the NCAA Tournament. There are five schools in the Big Ten with both squads in, including Rutgers, Michigan, Iowa and Maryland.
SPARTANS IN THE BIG DANCE
The Spartans have a 15-8 overall record, and Monday's NCAA Tournament game against Iowa State will be Michigan State's second-straight game against a team from Iowa, as the Spartans lost to the Hawkeyes of Iowa in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals.
MSU is in the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in the last six completed seasons, after the 2020 NCAA Tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, the Spartans are making their 18th trip to the "Big Dance." Michigan State has gone to the NCAA Tournament 15 of the last 18 completed seasons.
This is only the second time in MSU's NCAA Tournament history that the Spartans have been a 10 seed, also doing so in 2012, when Michigan State lost to No. 7-seeded Louisville, 67-55, in College Park, Maryland.
SPARTANS VS THE FIELD OF 64
MSU has played six teams that reached the NCAA Tournament, all of which are from the Big Ten. The Spartans are 2-7 against those teams. With a win against the No. 4-seeded Hoosiers in the Big Ten Tournament, MSU is 1-1 against Indiana. Michigan State is also 1-1 against No. 5-seed Iowa. The Spartans were 0-1 against No. 5-seed Northwestern, No. 6-seed Michigan and No. 6-seed Rutgers. MSU was 0-2 against No. 2-seed Maryland.
SCOUTING THE CYCLONES
The 2021 Cyclones earned an at-large bid with a 16-10 overall record after going 12-6 in the Big 12, and were the No. 4 seed in the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City, Missouri, falling to No. 5 seed Texas, 84-82 in OT. The Cyclones are one of just 15 teams nationally to earn NCAA Tournament berths in 12 of the last 15 years. All 19 of the Cyclones' NCAA Tournament appearances have come under the direction of head coach Bill Fennelly.
ISU averaged 76.7 points per game, while yielding 70.8 ppg to the opposition. Junior guard Ashley Joens earned unanimous first-team All-Big 12 accolades for the second season in a row. Joens averages 23.6 points and 9.2 rebounds per game. Lexi Donarski was named the Big 12 Freshman of the Year, and she currently averages 12.9 points and 2.0 assists, and was the only freshman in the Big 12 to average double-digits this season. She is ISU's first Freshman of the Year since 1998. Kristin Scott rounds out the trio of Cyclones averaging in double-figures and the trio of Big 12 honorees, earning second-team All-Big 12 honors. Scott adds 11.8 ppg and 5.7 rpg. Emily Ryan joined Donarski on the All-Freshman team, averaging 8.0 points and dishing out 5.7 assists per game.
SERIES HISTORY VS. THE CYCLONES
While Michigan State and Iowa State have a limited series history, their last meeting was also in the NCAA Tournament, in 2009 in Berkeley, California in the Regional Semifinal of the Berkeley Region, when the ninth-seeded Spartans lost to the fourth-seeded Cyclones, 69-68.
Overall, MSU leads the all-time series, 3-2, going 3-0 in East Lansing, 0-1 in Ames and 0-1 on a neutral court, in 2009 in Berkeley, in the only other previous NCAA Tournament meeting. MSU and ISU first met in 1982 in East Lansing.
COMMON OPPONENTS
The Spartans and Cyclones had only one common opponent this season. Both teams faced Iowa with ISU losing to Iowa 82-80 on Dec. 6 in Iowa City. During Big Ten action, the Spartans defeated Iowa, 86-82, on Dec. 12. The Hawkeyes knocked the Spartans out of the B1G Tournament on March 12, 87-72.
LAST TIME VS. IOWA STATE | 3/28/09
Alison Lacey capped a furious finish for Iowa State that sent the Cyclones into the regional finals for just the second time in school history. Lacey hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 23 seconds remaining and fourth-seeded Iowa State scored the final eight points in a 69-68 victory over ninth-seeded Michigan State.
SMALL MARGIN OF ERROR
Four of Michigan State's losses have come by six points or less. In back to back games in January, MSU lost to No. 12/12 Maryland by six points (93-87) and Nebraska by four points (68-64). Overcoming large deficits in February, the Spartans fell to No. 22/20 Northwestern by three points (63-60) and No. 11/11 Michigan by four (86-82).
REACHING MORE MILESTONES
Michigan State head coach
Suzy Merchant is approaching even more milestones. She is nearing her 500th career win and her 300th win as head coach at MSU. In her 25-year career, Merchant holds an overall record of 497-275, making her just seven wins away from the 500 win mark. She is also 296-155 during her 14 seasons at the helm of the Spartans, standing eight wins away from the 300-win plateau.
On Feb. 16, 2016, Merchant captured her 400th career win in historic fashion. In a dramatic 114-106 win over Minnesota at the Breslin Center, All-American Aerial Powers scored a career-high 40 points, as the Gophers Rachel Banham scored 52. On Feb. 24, 2016, Merchant won her 2ooth game at Michigan State in a win over Illinois.
NEW TO THE DANCE
The Spartans are fairly new to the NCAA Tournament with only three players having any NCAA experience. Senior forward
Mardrekia Cook has played in three NCAA games, while junior guard
Nia Clouden has played in two and junior guard
Tory Ozment has seen action in one. As a freshman, Clouden averaged 12.0 points and four assists in a pair of NCAA games in 2019. She scored 16 points in the Spartan win over Central Michigan in the first round in South Bend.
THE STARTING 5
Nia Clouden is the only Spartan to have started all 23 games this season, making her 86th career start in playing in her 86th career game. Against Iowa on March 12, MSU had a new lineup of Clouden, Alisia Smtih, Mo Joiner,
Alyza Winston and
Janai Crooms, that lineup is now 0-1 this year. The Spartans now have had nine different starting lineups.
