Draymond Green #23 and Brandon Wood #30 of the Michigan State Spartans celebrate after a basket against the St. Louis Billikens in the second half during the third round of the 2012 NCAA Men’s basketball tournament at Nationwide Arena on March 18, 2012 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images)
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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – Draymond Green scored 16 points with 13 rebounds and set up Keith Appling’s late 3-pointer, giving top-seeded Michigan State a 65-61 win over Saint Louis on Sunday and sending the Spartans to the round of 16 in the West Regional of the NCAA tournament.
Michigan State will play No. 4 seed Louisville on Thursday in Phoenix.
Appling added 19 points for the Spartans (29-7), who had to scrap their way past the ninth-seeded Billikens (26-8). Saint Louis controlled the tempo but never got a complete handle on Green, Michigan State’s superb senior. He added six assists and even helped mop up sweat off the floor in the final minute.
Kwamain Mitchell scored 13 and Brian Conklin 11 for Saint Louis, back in the tournament for the first time since 2000.
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