UConn fends off Michigan State in thriller, sets up Elite 8 showdown with Duke

UConn took early control with 19-point in Friday’s Sweet 16 game against Michigan State.

It then fended off a late MSU rally in a thriller for a 67-63 win to its spot in the Elite Eight. The No. 2 seed Huskies advance to take on No. 1 Duke in an East regional final featuring two of the winningest programs in college basketball history.

There, the Huskies will seek a third Final Four in four seasons is search of its seventh national championship. Duke will seek a return trip to the Final Four with a sixth national title as its goal.

But before the Huskies could think about Duke, they had to take on a game Michigan State team that battled back after struggling early Friday night.

UConn seized early control with a 25-6 lead out of the gates. But Michigan State closed the half on a 21-10 run to go into halftime with a much more manageable 35-28 deficit. The Spartans then held Huskies scoreless for the first 3:49 of the second half and eventually took a 45-44 lead, its first since an early 4-3 advantage.

But UConn withstood the rally and retook the lead that it extended to 64-60 with an Alex Karaban 3 in the final two minutes.

Jeremy Fears Jr. answered with a 3 on the other end to cut UConn’s lead back to 1 point and hit a pair of free throws on MSU’s next possession to again to 63-62.

But Karaban, a senior who started on two NCAA championship teams for UConn, hit two free throws to extend UConn’s lead back to 3 points with 22 seconds remaining. And Michigan State was out of answers after botched late possession resulted in a badly missed 3.

UConn held on for the win after a pair of Tarris Reed Jr. free throws with 4 seconds remaining.