During Adreian Payne’s senior season at Michigan State, he was an absolute monster, averaging 16.4 points and 7.3 rebounds while shooting 42.3 percent from the 3-point line.
During the first round of the NCAA Tournament in 2014, No. 4 Michigan State faced off against No. 13 Delaware and Payne showed how dangerous he could be.
Payne led the Spartans to victory despite playing just 24 minutes. Payne finished with 41 points and eight rebounds while shooting 10-for-15 from the field, 4-for-5 from the 3-point line and a perfect 17-for-17 from the free-throw line.
To put that in perspective, the MSU’s other four starters combine for just 27 points.
The Spartans went all the way to the Elite Eight that season before falling to Connecticut. During that tournament, Payne averaged 20.5 points and 6.5 rebounds.
A few observations about this game:
- Along with Payne, Michigan State had three future first-round draft picks on its team: Payne, Garry Harris and Denzel Valentine.
- Payne made 17 of the team’s 23 free throws.
- In total, Tom Izzo played a total of 15 players.
Unfortunately for Payne and his Spartans, MSU lost in the second round of the 2017 NCAA Tournament to Kansas on Sunday.