Everyone remembers the blood-curdling yelp. Kyle Ahrens went up for a rebound and came down on a Michigan player’s foot, twisting his ankle in what looked to be the worst-case scenario for Michigan State heading into the NCAA Tournament.
Ahrens way laying on the ground in pain and the team was standing over him, emotional. Tom Izzo was in tears, Nick Ward was, too, and everyone just looked defeated.
The redshirt junior had dealt with numerous injuries throughout his career and they kept him out during the entire 2017-18 season. He had been dealing with a bad back in 2018-19 and he had just toughed it out, returning to the lineup for the conference tournament.