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Tom Izzo Gives Priceless Quote After Michigan State Beats Maryland on Half-Court Heave

Izzo was just as stunned as the College Park crowd following Tre Holloman's buzzer-beater.

Mike McDaniel

Tom Izzo was just as stunned as everybody else after Tre Holloman's halfcourt heave won the game for Michigan State on Wednesday night.
Tom Izzo was just as stunned as everybody else after Tre Holloman's halfcourt heave won the game for Michigan State on Wednesday night. / Reggie Hildred-Imagn Images
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No. 8 Michigan State went into College Park and beat No. 16 Maryland on the road, 58-55, thanks to a Tre Holloman buzzer-beater from beyond half court that left Terps fans stunned at the XFINITY Center.

Holloman only scored nine points on Wednesday, but the last three of those nine—on a night where he struggled to the tune of a 3-of-12 stat line from the floor—had to feel spectacularly sweet.

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo will certainly take it.

"Look, that was a lucky shot. But nobody can say we didn't deserve to win this game," Izzo told Big Ten Network's Andy Katz after the buzzer sounded. "We made some bad mistakes. Give them credit. We threw the ball away a little bit and everything, but we deserved to win this game. To come into this place...I'm so proud of my guys. And Tre made the big turnover and he made the lucky shot. But we deserved to win, I'm not taking that as a lucky shot."

When asked further why he believed Michigan State deserved to win, Izzo didn't disappoint.

"We played our tail off the whole game, didn't you watch it? We're up nine. Okay, we made some mistakes, but we were up the whole game. Our defense was unbelievable, I thought our guys did an incredible job."

Michigan State is now 23-5 on the season, and this is looking like one of Izzo's best teams in recent years. They'll be a force in March.

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Mike McDaniel
MIKE MCDANIEL

Mike McDaniel is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated, where he has worked since January 2022. His work has been featured at InsideTheACC.com, SB Nation, FanSided and more. McDaniel hosts the Hokie Hangover Podcast, covering Virginia Tech athletics, as well as Basketball Conference: The ACC Football Podcast. Outside of work, he is a husband and father, and an avid golfer.

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