There were two members of the Pitino family involved in this year’s NCAA Tournament. One of them was, of course, Rick Pitino, who complained loudly last year when his St. John’s Red Storm was left out of the Big Dance.

This year his team made it as a #2 seed, but suffered an upset at the hands of John Calipari’s Arkansas Razorbacks on Saturday.

That leaves one Pitino still standing. But for how long. His son, Richard, is ready to take his New Mexico Lobos into second-round action on Sunday as they tackle the Michigan State Spartans at the Rocket Arena in Cleveland.

Game time is 8:40 PM ET with TNT televising. 

In the NCAA Tournament odds posted at BetOnline, the Spartans are in the favorite’s role:

Michigan State Spartans -7 (-107)
New Mexico Lobos +7 (-113)

Over 148 Points -115
Under 148 Points -105

And don’t forget that live betting is available on this game. You can keep the action going on every trip down the floor!

Rick Pitino likes to do things at a rather swift pace with his Red Storm, as he’s done with other teams through the years, and his son follows suit, with the fifth briefest offensive possession time in college basketball. The big scorer offensive weapon is Donovan Dent, who helped Pitino fill the void left by the departure of two stars from last year - JT Toppin (transferred to Texas Tech) and Jamal Mashburn (graduated). Dent had 21 points in the Lobos’ 75-66 first-round upset victory over Marquette. That brought the record to 27-7 on the season.

New Mexico’s defensive numbers aren’t bad; they are ranked 19th in efficiency. And when they make a stop, they can make it stick, with Nelly Junior Joseph in the middle. The 6’10” center previously played for Rick Pitino at Iona, and he ranks tenth in the nation in defensive rebounding percentage. 

Anyone who has followed Michigan State (28-6) over the years knows that coach Tom Izzo emphasizes defense and rebounding. His Spartans this year are no exception. With rankings of 8th in offensive and 19th in defensive rebounding, they hit the boards like few other teams in the nation. They are fifth in the country in defensive efficiency as well.

Izzo’s team tripped against Wisconsin in the Big Ten tournament, but they beat a slew of formidable opponents down the stretch, including Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Maryland, Oregon and Wisconsin (in an earlier matchup). Those were quality wins. In Friday’s NCAA first-round action, they pulled down 21 offensive rebounds and hit ten triples in an 87-62 win over Bryant, which also covered the 17.5-point spread. In that game, sophomore Coen Carr had 18 points and nine rebounds. It was his career high in both. Can he duplicate that? Does he need to? 

The truth is, neither of these teams relies on hitting three-point shots. Between the two squads, only 24% of their attempts go from beyond the arc. But while we’re on the subject, Michigan State has been the best team in the country at defending triples (allowing just 27.7%), so they’re going to take that option completely away from the Lobos.

With their aggressiveness on the glass, freshness off the bench and the considerable edge they hold at the free throw line (77.9% to 68.8%), the Spartans have the ability to create some distance between themselves and this opponent. So we’re going to go ahead and lay the points with Michigan State.

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