CLEVELAND — Jaden Akins scored 16 points, including a 3-pointer that put Michigan State ahead to stay, and coach Tom Izzo took the Spartans to the Sweet 16 for the 16th time with a 71-63 victory over New Mexico on Sunday night.
Izzo has 58 wins in the NCAA Tournament, tied for fourth in a coaching career. The 70-year-old Hall of Famer has taken the Spartans to March Madness 27 times.
Four of those victories have come against the Pitino family. Izzo has won both of his matchups against New Mexico coach Richard Pitino and is 2-1 against his father, Rick. The elder Pitino, whose St. John’s squad was eliminated on Saturday by John Calipari and Arkansas, flew to Cleveland and had a front-row seat opposite the Lobos’ bench.
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