ATLANTA – For the first time in a long time — since at least November — Michigan State ran into a team that just looked like the better team for good parts of the night, a matchup the Spartans couldn’t solve.

Then they somehow did. Or at least they won. I don’t know if they solved anything.

This is a tough-as-nails MSU team. One that finds a way unlike anything we’ve seen in recent memory. They don’t have everything. But they have that and, after Friday night’s 73-70 win over Mississippi in the Sweet 16, that might just be enough. It was enough to put MSU back in the Elite Eight for the first time in six seasons, where it’ll face the winner of 1-seed Auburn and 5-seed Michigan, being played later Friday night.

MSU seemed to be swimming uphill for a long while. Every shot they got felt like a big shot, relief even. They had no offense. Just buckets here and there. Ole Miss was as physical and tough and stout defensively as any the Spartans have faced.

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But this is also an MSU team that usually puts together a stretch. And it did late in the first half, to claw within two, and then in the middle of the second half, coming back from 49-41 to take a 51-50 lead, riding a strong stretch from Jaden Akins, a big 3 from Jase Richardson and two Carson Cooper free throws that ended with a fist pump.

From there, they had the Rebels on their heals a little. Maybe they wore down. The difference wasn’t much but MSU was the better side for the final 10 minutes.

This is an MSU team that has won a lot of close games and is mighty comfortable in the final minutes of close games. That showed up in how the Spartans ran offense and how they made their free throws, Jaden Akins and Tre Holloman with two each that were the biggest of their careers.

And so they play on. Sunday. For a chance at a trip to the Final Four.

“It’s hard to believe that in two days we’re doing one of the all-time great things in any basketball player’s life,” Tom Izzo said, “and that’s play for a Final Four. … They deserve it.”

2. Jase Richardson’s legacy continues to grow

The Spartans wouldn’t have had a chance to win the game at the end, if not for what Jase Richardson gave them all night. MSU doesn’t stay in that game if not for Richardson’s shooting. On a night where nothing came easy, Richardson’s smooth-looking stroke was the Spartans’ best weapon, as it has been for the last two months, and really all season.

Richardson has long loved the bright lights, well before his time at MSU, but after last Sunday’s 1-for-10 shooting night against New Mexico, the Spartans needed Richardson to shine on this stage. He did. He didn’t take over the game from the jump. But he made three catch-and-shoot first-half 3s that gave MSU hope. And in the second half, the Spartans got him the ball on the move headed toward the basket, allowing the Spartans’ offense to have a little more threat to it than just late-clock jump shots. He didn’t take over, but the offense was at least in his hands more regularly.

Whether Richardson stays or leaves for the NBA, he’ll go down as, arguably, the most impactful MSU freshman of the Tom Izzo era. He was as efficient as ever Friday — 20 points on 6-for-8 shooting, including 4-for-6 from beyond the arc. He also got to the line three times, where he hit 4 of 6 free throws, the only area where you could have asked for any more from him. He also had six rebounds, several of them crucial.

In his last 14 games, since that second-half outburst against Oregon, Richardson has averaged 16.5 points, including Friday night, leading MSU to an outright Big Ten championship — through one of the more difficult February schedules you’ll ever see — and now to a regional final.

It’s a heckuva legacy. And it’s still going. 

3. An ode to Coen Carr and Carson Cooper

Coen Carr has perhaps had more spectacular dunks, but the lift, distance and the power he threw that one down Friday — and the situation and size of the audience — make it among among the best we’ve seen from him.

Jeremy Fears Jr.’s steal and pass to Carr (almost a volleyball block) that led to Carr’s near free-throw-line dunk for a 59-58 lead was part of a big-time performance for Carr, whose star continues to rise. The first sign of who he’s been in this tournament for MSU was that the coaches started him for the first time this season, with Jaxon Kohler sliding to center. Mississippi was a problematic matchup in several ways and Carr has become MSU’s answer to a lot of their matchup problems. He didn’t solve them Sunday, but he was really good in a couple areas, including providing offense — 15 points on 6-for-10 shooting, including a 3, and hitting both of his free throws — to help the Spartans hang in there.

Carson Cooper was also impressive on a night when he turned out to be the best answer to a wicked matchup at center with Mississippi’s Malik Dia. Cooper had a team-best seven rebounds and a blocked shot and one of the biggest shots of his career — a short, calm jumper in the paint on a rolling catch from Tre Holloman with 40 seconds left to put MSU ahead 67-63, its largest lead of the game at the time. 

And he hit both of his free throws, too, pumping his fist after hitting a pair on a one-and-one opportunity that put the Spartans ahead for the first time all night with 7:50 remaining. 

Two players who, at one point in their careers — not that long ago — MSU couldn’t play down the stretch because they couldn’t be counted on to hit free throws, both coming through at the line and in lots of other ways. 

Contact Graham Couch at [email protected]. Follow him on X @Graham_Couch and BlueSky @GrahamCouch.