Coen Carr lifting Michigan State's March Madness hopes in Sweet 16 with high-flying play

Dunks are always worth two points, or at most three if you’re fouled, complete the dunk and add the free throw. The math is different for Coen Carr and Michigan State. “Like, his dunks are worth 10 points because they bring so much to the entire team,” Spartans guard Trey Fort said.

Or “more than two, at least,” said freshman forward Jordan Scott. Their math is iffy, but this much is certain: Carr, a 6-foot-6 junior and first-year starter, brings a certain explosiveness that triggers the Spartans’ momentum, giving Michigan State a puncher’s chance of surviving and advancing through a loaded East region. He had one of the best games of his career in the second round against No.

6 Louisville, posting 21 points and 10 rebounds to pace the 77-69 win and send the Spartans back to the Sweet 16 for the 17th time under Tom Izzo. “Coen Carr played like the player we've all been waiting for," Izzo said. “Coen was like an ever-ready bunny, he just kept going and going and going.

" RE-SEEDING THE SWEET 16: Separating the contenders from pretenders As proved over the first weekend of tournament play, an active and aggressive Carr could give the Spartans the jolt they need to make the program’s ninth Final Four under Izzo. “Just to be in March Madness, one of the greatest stages on earth, and to have a game like this, I just credit it to my coaches, my teammates, just for always believing in me,” Carr after the Louisville win. “They want me to go out there and be aggressive, and that's what I tried to focus on.