The Virginia Cavaliers and the Michigan State Spartans will look to book a spot in the 2014 NCAA Tournament Elite Eight when they collide on Friday at the Madison Square Garden in New York City.
The top-seeded Cavaliers, who have been one of the hottest teams heading into this year's tournament, will be making their first Sweet 16 appearance since 1995 after cruising to a 78-60 win over the Memphis Tigers in the third round on Sunday.
Joe Harris, the team's second leading scorer, was in his usual rhythm on Sunday, finishing with 16 points and five rebounds, while Anthony Gill posted 13 points and eight boards in just 19 minutes of playing time.
The Spartans, on the other hand, will look to avoid their third-consecutive Sweet 16 exit, and they are poised to surpass their achievement last season.
The fourth-seeded is the lower-ranked team, but they have been a different team in the tournament after finally being healthy after an injury-riddled regular-season campaign.
Michigan State coach Tom Izzo, who has led the Spartans to six Final Fours, is also confident that his team is peaking at the right time after getting their injured guys back.
"We got our guys back," Izzo said, via ESPN. "I thought the Big Ten tournament we did play awfully well. I thought we played well in Spokane. Are we back to the team we were then? Probably not, but are we as close as we have been all year? Definitely."
The Spartans are coming off an 80-73 win over the upset-conscious Harvard Crimson in the third round on Saturday.
Branden Dawson went on fire as he posted 26 points on 12-for-15 shooting to go along with nine rebounds, while Adreian Payne, who erupted for 41 points in the second round, had 12 points and four rebounds.
But while the Spartans have been running like a well-oiled machine as of late, Cavaliers coach Tony Bennett, whose team is only allowing 55.5 points per game this season, is confident that they will be ready against Michigan State.
"I know which Michigan State team we're going to play and that's the important thing," Bennett said. "How they played in the Big Ten tournament, I don't want to say they breezed through it but they were at times really dominant and certainly in the NCAA tournament. That's who they are."
The Virginia-Michigan State showdown will kick off at 9:57 p.m. EST and TBS will broadcast the game live. Hoops fans can also catch 2014 NCAA Tournament actions through live stream via March Madness Live.
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