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Michigan State Basketball: 3 things to know about first-round foe Davidson

By Connor Muldowney

WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 05: Foster Loyer #0 of the Davidson Wildcats is introduced before a college basketball game against the George Washington Colonials at the Smith Center on February 5, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 05: Foster Loyer #0 of the Davidson Wildcats is introduced before a college basketball game against the George Washington Colonials at the Smith Center on February 5, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /
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Michigan State basketball is getting an interesting matchup in round one of the NCAA Tournament with A-10 regular-season champ Davidson.

Michigan State played itself into a 7-seed in the NCAA Tournament after arguably the worst stretch in the Tom Izzo era, losing 7-of-10 games to end the regular season.

The Spartans did catch fire starting on Senior Day with a win over Maryland and then beat the Terps again in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament as well as No. 12 Wisconsin in the quarterfinals. After advancing to the semifinals to face Purdue, the Spartans lost a tight battle, 75-70.

Michigan State won 3-of-4 games to end the year after losing 7-of-10 and it has some newfound confidence after cutting the turnovers and improving team cohesion.

Now, the Spartans get a date with 10th-seeded Davidson in the first round on Friday night at 9:40 p.m. ET on the West Coast.

What do we know about Davidson?

3. Foster Loyer

Alright, let’s get this one out of the way because it’s the most obvious: this is Foster Loyer’s team. He left Michigan State last offseason after it was pretty obvious that he wasn’t built for Big Ten basketball, getting run down almost every single night on both ends of the floor.

Everyone knew he had talent, he just needed to find the right fit with the ideal level of competition and he found that at Davidson in the A-10. His Wildcats won the regular-season conference title.

Loyer was always a solid shooter but he really stepped it up this season, leading the team in 3-point percentage (45 percent), free throw percentage (93 percent), and scoring (16.6 points). He actually leads college basketball from the free throw line, making 107-of-115 shots from the stripe this year.

This is the matchup everyone kind of expected and it’s clear the selection committee wanted some extra storylines in the West Region so they paired these familiar faces in round one.

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