NEW YORK – Markquis Nowell scored 20 points and broke an NCAA Tournament record with 19 assists, which included an alley-oop to Keyontae Johnson in the closing minutes as second-seeded Kansas State earned a dramatic 98-93 overtime victory over No. 7 seed Michigan State Thursday evening at Madison Square Garden, sending the Wildcats to their 13th Elite 8 in school history.
Johnson led all Wildcats with 22 points on 10-of-18 shooting, while Ismael Massoud added a season-high 15 points thanks to four three pointers. However, Massoud’s biggest bucket of the night came with 17 seconds left in overtime when he took an in-bounds pass from Nowell and sunk a long 2-pointer to give the Wildcats a 96-93 lead.
The Spartans called a timeout with 12 seconds left to try to set up a 3-pointer and send the game into a second overtime, but Nowell stripped Tyson Walker of the ball and drove the length of the court for a layup as time expired to send the Wildcats to a date on Saturday against Florida Atlantic with the right to go to the Final Four.
Kansas State earned its first victory over Michigan State since 1962, while the Wildcats have won each of their last four Regional Semifinal games (1988, 2010, 2018, 2023). The Wildcats are now 4-2 all-time in NCAA Tournament overtime games and have won their last three. The last time K-State played an overtime NCAA Tournament game was a 101-96 double-overtime victory over Xavier in the Sweet 16 in 2010. K-State also improved to 5-0 in overtime games this season.
