The elder Martelli made the NCAAs seven times as coach at St. Joe's. His son has reached it for the first time as coach of the Bryant Bulldogs.

This is the third season in a row that the six teams comprising the Philadelphia Big 5 failed to make the NCAA Tournament. And with Delaware and Princeton going down in their respective conference tournaments,

MSU's opponent, Bryant, is coached by Phil Martelli Jr., the son of legendary college basketball coach Phil Martelli, who is also a good friend of Tom Izzo. On Sunday, after Martelli spoke on his relationship with Izzo, he talked about the Spartans team as a whole, giving a slight preview on the matchup between the Bulldogs and Spartans.