Josh Jackson led the No. 1 Kansas Jayhawks to the Sweet 16 with a 90-70 win over No. 9 Michigan State in the 2017 NCAA Tournament.
This is the Spartans' second straight season they have failed to make it to the Sweet 16 after being upset in the first round by Middle Tennessee St. last year.
Jackson finished the game with 23 points.
Michigan State's three freshman, Miles Bridges, Nick Ward and Josh Langford led the Spartans with 22, 13 and 10 points respectively.
The teams traded buckets to start the first half, but Kansas eventually jumped out to an 11-point lead near the end of the first half. Michigan State went on 6-0 run in the final minutes though to cut the lead to 40-35 at halftime.
Miles Brides led the Spartans at half with 13 points while Josh Jackson led the Jayhawks with nine points each at the half.
Both teams came out flying to start the second half, with the Spartans scoring seven points and the Jayhawks scoring 10 within the first 3 1/2 minutes.
Nick Ward started out the second half strong, scoring seven of Michigan State's first 13 points, but was benched after getting his third foul with 15 minutes left.
The Spartans struggled to make shots midway through the second, missing an open 3-pointer and open layup while down six with 13 minutes left.
That was stopped when McQuaid drilled an open three and a turnover gave Ellis a tough layup, cutting the lead to just one point.
Former Spartan and current Golden State Warrior Draymond Green was shown in the stand after the layup cheering loudly in the stands.
Sparty within one! #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/sc2i9Gw6ni
— NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) March 19, 2017
The Jayhawks jumped out to a couple 10-point leads midway in the second half, but a technical foul on Kansas' Vick for taunting game Michigan State two shots and the ball. A McQuaid three-pointer shortly after cut the 10-point lead to five quickly.
Kansas rebounded well, going on an 8-1 run over the course of a couple minutes, increasing their lead to 77-65 with just over five minutes left in the game.
The Jayhawks went on another 8-3 run and jumped out to a 17-point lead with just over a minute left in the game, essentially sealing the Spartans' fate.
Kansas will now take on Purdue in the Sweet 16.
