Michigan State and Harvard meet in opening round of NCAA Tournament

Harvard Crimson (24-4, 13-3 Ivy League) vs. Michigan State Spartans (21-9, 11-8 Big Ten)

Raleigh, North Carolina; Saturday, 4:30 p.m. EDT

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Spartans -5.5; over/under is 136.5

BOTTOM LINE: Michigan State takes on Harvard in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

The Spartans' record in Big Ten games is 11-8, and their record is 10-1 in non-conference games. Michigan State is the leader in the Big Ten with 15.4 fast break points.

The Crimson are 13-3 in Ivy League play. Harvard is 19-2 when it wins the turnover battle and averages 11.6 turnovers per game.

Michigan State makes 44.7% of its shots from the field this season, which is 7.3 percentage points higher than Harvard has allowed to its opponents (37.4%). Harvard has shot at a 42.5% rate from the field this season, 2.3 percentage points greater than the 40.2% shooting opponents of Michigan State have averaged.

TOP PERFORMERS: Jaddan Simmons is averaging 6.4 points, 3.3 assists and 1.8 steals for the Spartans. Grace Vanslooten is averaging 17.9 points and 7.1 rebounds while shooting 54.9% over the last 10 games.

Elena Rodriguez is scoring 11.9 points per game with 4.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists for the Crimson. Harmoni Turner is averaging 22.7 points and 4.9 rebounds while shooting 48.8% over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Spartans: 4-6, averaging 72.9 points, 29.7 rebounds, 16.7 assists, 10.8 steals and 4.2 blocks per game while shooting 43.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 72.4 points per game.

Crimson: 9-1, averaging 66.2 points, 31.1 rebounds, 13.2 assists, 9.0 steals and 3.5 blocks per game while shooting 43.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 52.3 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.