It wouldn't be Michigan State basketball without a little bit of drama. Friday in Atlanta, in the South Region semifinal, the Spartans yet again found themselves getting outplayed and trailing in the first half in the NCAA tournament. Yet again, they made enough adjustments in the second half to get the job done.

Highlighted by an emphatic dunk by Coen Carr after a in the closing minutes of the Sweet 16 contest against No. 6 seed Ole Miss, the second-seeded Spartans rallied back to advance to the Elite Eight with a 73-70 victory over the Rebels to advance to the Elite 8.

"One of these days, we're going to be a first half team," MSU coach Tom Izzo said in a televised interview after the game.

It would certainly be easier on the fans that way. As long as they played equally as good in the second half, at least.

Without doubt, the first half could have gone better for Michigan State. The Rebels scored the game's first points after an MSU turnover and MSU didn't get on the board until nearly two and a half minutes into the game.

Throughout the half, MSU seemed to have trouble taking care of the ball, while Ole Miss didn't even want to give it up after missed shots. A Jaemyn Brakefield jumper with just under four minutes remaining in the half gave Ole Miss its biggest lead of the game at 29-19.

That seemed to be what it took to wake the Spartans up. They went up a 12-4 run to close the half and went into the locker room down just 33-31.

The Spartans continued that momentum in the second half, though not all at once. They trailed by as many as nine eight minutes into the second before gradually chipping away over the next four minutes.

MSU finally took its first lead of the game with just under 8 minutes remaining on a pair of Carson Cooper free throws to put the Spartans up 51-50.

But what everyone is going to remember is the play that occurred a few minutes later.

A steal by Jeremy Fears Jr and dish to Coen Carr set up what will surely be one of the iconic dunks of the entire tournament. Taking a step or two beyond the free-throw line, Carr soared seemingly to the ceiling before emphatically jamming the ball through the hoop in a flashbulb moment that put MSU back ahead, 59-58.

Ian Eagle and Bill Raferty lived up to the emotion of the moment with an emotional "LOOK OUT" as Carr took to the air.

The Spartans held on in the closing minutes, taking advantage of strong free-throw shooting. to hold on for the victory.

Carr finished with 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting. Jase Richardson led the Spartans with 6-of-8 shooting including four three-pointers.

MSU took its biggest lead of the game with just 4 seconds remaining, going up 73-67 after a pair of Trey Holloman free-throws. Only a meaningless buzzer-beating three-pointer by Ole Miss made the final score look closer.

That said, Ole Miss did expose a few areas Izzo and the Spartans need to find answers for before Sunday night's contest against No. 1 seed Auburn.

Ole Miss's domination on the boards showed through even in the second half though, with Ole Miss holding a 12-5 advantage on offensive rebounds.

MSU will also need to clean up its ball protection a bit after giving up eight steals while only making one of its own.

It didn't need to be pretty though, and with Izzo-coached teams it seldom is. But in the end, the Spartans advanced to the elite eight for the ninth time under Izzo and for the first time since 2019. So call to the cardiologist required or not, the Spartans keep marching.

MSU will play Auburn in the South Region final at 5:05 p.m. ET on Sunday.