• The Michigan State Spartans defeated the New Mexico Lobos to advance to the Sweet 16.
• Michigan State’s victory marked its 16th Sweet 16 appearance under head coach Tom Izzo.
• The Spartans will face Mississippi in the next round of the NCAA tournament.

CLEVELAND — There’s something to be said about the Michigan State basketball ethos of strength in numbers.

Particularly when the luxury becomes necessity, in the NCAA tournament with the season on the line.

It has become somewhat of a cliché phrase 35 games into the Spartans’ season. But it gets overused only because of how

Tom Izzo has juggled his rotation, with different players repeatedly stepping to the forefront for their shining moment.

“I feel like we’ve had a lot of games like this, where everybody just contributes in their own way,” junior Coen Carr said Sunday night. “So just for us to have another one on this stage is just great.”

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As burgeoning star Jase Richardson endured one of the worst shooting games of his phenomenal freshman season, the contributions from others ensured No. 2 seed MSU wouldn’t make an early exit from March Madness.

Tre Holloman and Jaden Akins jumpstarting the sluggish offense by driving to the basket repeatedly to recover from a 10-point deficit before halftime.

Szymon Zapala going beast-mode on the boards to set the tone for a second-half comeback.

Frankie Fidler putting together his most important stretch as a Spartan with eight second-half points.

Carson Cooper attacking the glass and clogging the paint, getting the transition offense in motion with quick outlets.

And, while missing his first nine shots, Richardson contributing any way possible — a drive-and-dish here, chasing down a loose ball there, getting his hands on a late inbound pass to help send the Spartans on to the Sweet 16.

“Every night, you never know who’s night it might be,” redshirt freshman point guard Jeremy Fears Jr. said after MSU defeated 10-seed New Mexico, 71-63. “Like today, Frankie gave us a boost, Coen again, Tre off the bench. Everybody gave a little something when it mattered, and that just helps.”

It was another all-hands-helping effort — each of the nine Spartans who played had at least four points and at least one rebound, seven of them had a block and seven had an assist. That sent MSU (29-6) into Izzo’s second Sweet 16 in three seasons, and 16th overall. The Spartans will face 6-seed Mississippi (24-11) in the South region semifinals at 7:09 p.m. Friday (CBS) at State Farm Arena in Atlanta.

“You always want to play big games like this,” said Richardson, who finished with just six points. “Just winning like this and to be able to get to the Sweet 16 again, it’s a sweet feeling. So we want to keep it going, keep it rolling, and we know we got a tough Ole Miss coming up.”

That didn’t mean Izzo was pleased with the overall performance, particularly in falling behind at halftime for the 10th time in 14 games.

But the outcome? That, too, felt pretty sweet. It was the 13th time in Izzo’s career the Spartans came back to win in the NCAA tournament after facing a halftime deficit, second only to the 14 second-half comebacks by Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski.

“What it says to me is a lot of good players, a lot of good coaches, again. And the culture — I think the culture’s got to get some credit for it,” said Izzo, who is 58-25 in his 27th consecutive NCAA appearance and 30th season as head coach. “It’s funny to get a text like I got from Draymond (Green) today. It was almost like: Don’t screw it up, you know what we do at this time of year.”

Akins scored 16 points, hitting a critical 3-pointer with 7:06 to play that gave the Spartans the lead for good. That bucket led into Fidler getting the next six points, which ultimately swung the momentum in another physically grinding game.

Fidler led MSU with a plus-19 in his nearly 17½ minutes Sunday. The Spartans’ reserves outscored New Mexico’s, 36-7.

“Coach says how we have eight or nine starters on this team, and I think everyone buys into their role,” said Fidler, who began his year as a transfer from Omaha as a starter and hadn’t scored in double figures since Feb. 18 against Purdue. “And when one player is not playing as good, you know we got three or four other guys that can pick them up. So I think that’s a big testament to our team.”

While Fidler was one of the unsung heroes, so was Zapala and his 99-second start to the second half. The senior transfer from Longwood (Virginia) had a tip-out on the first possession of the half, giving MSU a second chance to open the scoring. He then grabbed an offensive rebound off a Carr miss, snagged his own missed shot for a second offensive board and scored a layup to spark a 6-0 run as the Spartans took their first lead after trailing 31-29 at half.

“I knew coach trusts me, so I gotta go out there and do my job,” said Zapala, who finished with four points and five rebounds in 10:46 of court time. “I mean, that’s what we gotta do. That’s our way of playing. So you just gotta be aggressive from the get-go. And I think coming next game, we’re gonna have to start doing that from the first minute, not just wait untll the second half.”

Holloman added 14 points to help offset a 1-for-10 shooting performance by Richardson, who scored all six of his points in the last 92 seconds on three free throws and a three-point play to seal the win. But Richardson delivered four assists, including one kickout pass on Holloman’s 3-pointer with 4:32 remaining, and two of MSU’s six steals.

“When you’re not able to score, you feel like you gotta do something,” Richardson said. “Because you don’t want to be out there being useless to your team.”

New Mexico coach Richard Pitino credited the Spartans’ toughness and being “well-schooled” by Izzo. That showed at both ends, as MSU had a 17-3 edge in fastbreak points against the Lobos, who entered ranked third in the nation at 16.21 a game.

“Certainly, there’s another level of athleticism that we’re not used to,” he said. “We knew they’d make us earn it. … They made us earn everything.”

As did the Spartans. It was a second straight rockfight at Rocket Arena in a season seemingly filled with them. And it was yet another team-focused finish to extend their pursuit of Izzo’s second national title.

“This is exactly what I dreamed of as a little little kid. And I finally am at this level and at this position to be able to do it,” Fidler said. “It feels real good. Especially to do it when you know it’s survive and advance.”

Contact Chris Solari:[email protected]. Follow him @chrissolari.

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