Michigan State took the floor in Buffalo, New York, for its Round of 32 matchup with Louisville in the East Region, just minutes after Michigan, the top seed in the Midwest, dispatched Saint Louis.
The Wolverines have beaten the Spartans twice this year, and while they would need to wait until the national championship game in Indianapolis to cross paths for a third time and Michigan to deliver a knockout blow to its biggest rival on the hardwood, it landed a stiff jab to the son of Spartan on Saturday.
Wolverines sent Andre Hutson’s son, Cam, and his Billikens packing
After Saint Louis’s 102-77 win over Georgia in the first round on Thursday, Cam Huston, son of former Michigan State national champion Andre Hutson, didn’t pull any punches when asked about playing his dad’s former rival in the Round of 32.
“I hope we smack the crap out of them (Michigan) worse than we did Georgia,” the 6-foot-5 freshman from East Lansing said after going 0-2 from the field in three minutes during garbage time of the blowout win.
"I hope we smack the crap out of them (Michigan) worse than we did Georgia."
— Owen Oszust (@Owen_Oszust) March 20, 2026
East Lansing native Cam Hutson got to play in his first NCAA Tournament game for St. Louis tonight.
I asked him about the experience and what it's like to play his dad's old rival school next. @wilxTV pic.twitter.com/CfV4BpVB0r
Though Hutson didn't receive an offer from Tom Izzo, who coached his father over 20 years ago, the rivalry still burns hot for the Spartan legacy. Unfortunately for him, Michigan did the smacking, handling Saint Louis 95-72.
The three-star wing appeared in 18 games for the Billikens this season, averaging 1.8 points in 5.3 minutes. He failed to crack Josh Schertz’s regular rotation as Saint Louis rolled to a dominant season and the regular-season Atlantic 10 title. Saint Louis earned an at-large bid after falling short in the conference title.
Hutson may eventually develop into an important piece for Schertz, who is a good friend of Michigan head coach Dusty May, but until he does, he may not want to give his team’s opponents bulletin-board material. Especially when that opponent is the top seed in the region and spent much of the year as the No. 1 team in the country.
Hutson’s father spent four years at Michigan State from 1997-98, and started 38 of the team’s 39 games in its 2000 national championship season. As a senior the next year, he averaged a career-high 13.8 points before becoming a second-round pick of the Milwaukee Bucks in the 2001 NBA Draft.