Indiana Delays Tom Izzo From Breaking Bob Knight's Big Ten Wins Record

Tom Izzo is one win away from passing Bob Knight for the most Big Ten wins of all-time, but he missed his chance to do so Tuesday against Knight’s former team.

Jack Ankony | Feb 12, 2025

Indiana coach Bob Knight and Michigan State coach Tom Izzo talk during a game in 1998 at the Breslin Center. / Photo credit Lansing State Journal

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Indiana Hoosiers

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Thirty years of history came full circle Tuesday at the Breslin Center.

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo won his first Big Ten game against Bob Knight and the Indiana Hoosiers during the 1995-96 season, taking down the eventual conference champions, 65-60, at the Breslin Center.

Izzo had a chance to break Knight’s record for most Big Ten wins against Knight’s old team, coached by one of his best players, Mike Woodson. But that achievement will have to wait at least one more game, because against all odds, the Hoosiers stunned the 11th-ranked Spartans with a 71-67 upset victory.

Woodson didn't mention the record to his team going into the game, but he has plenty of respect for Izzo's accomplisments.

"Tom Izzo's a hell of a coach, man, great coach," Woodson said postgame. "He's done it for a lot of years and won a lot of games. To be mentioned in Bob Knight's arena, it means Tom Izzo is pretty god damn special. I mean, really special. I didn't think I needed to tell our guys that. We're just trying to get off this slide and get a win, and I thought we had a total team effort tonight from everybody."

Michigan State and Indiana’s seasons have gone in opposite directions, but that wouldn’t be known from watching Tuesday’s game. The Spartans entered the contest a half game out of first place in the Big Ten standings. Indiana fell to 12th place after losing seven of its last eight games, and announced last week Woodson will not return for a fifth season in 2025-26.

Despite all that’s gone against them in recent weeks, Woodson and the Hoosiers aren’t done just yet.

"Give Indiana a lot of credit. Everybody knows they've gone through hell. And give Mike credit. I mean, he did a better job than I did,” Izzo said postgame.

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo shakes hands with Indiana coach Mike Woodson at the Breslin Center. / Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Woodson implemented a zone defense more than he had in any game this season, and that proved to be a smart call. The Hoosiers prioritized limiting Michigan State’s paint scoring, and instead dared them to fire away from beyond the arc.

The Spartans entered the game shooting 29.3% from 3-point range and averaging just 5.7 made 3-pointers and 19.3 3-point attempts per game – all three numbers rank outside the top 325 nationally. Tuesday, Michigan went 4 for 23, or 17.4%, from 3-point range.

Izzo said postgame he doesn’t think future opponents will throw a zone defense at them moving forward, because it’s not something many teams frequently run during games or practice. But with the downward trend of this season, Indiana had nothing to lose doing so.

“Let’s face it,” Izzo said. “They were a little desperate.”

Malik Reneau had his best game since returning from injury, scoring 19 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. He helped put Michigan State’s frontcourt trio of Carson Cooper, Jaxon Kohler and Szymon Zapala in foul trouble.

"They lost a lot when they lost Reneau,” Izzo said. “Their fans don't want to hear that, but that's their problem. The guy's a very good player. I mean, he dominated tonight."

Indiana forward Malik Reneau (5) drives against Michigan State center Carson Cooper (15) at the Breslin Center. / Dale Young-Imagn Images

They couldn’t stop Oumar Ballo inside either, giving up 14 points and 10 rebounds to the Hoosiers’ 7-footer.

"They had not played those two together hardly at all, and they played them a lot together tonight,” Izzo said of Ballo and Reneau. “So that made a big difference, too, I think. Usually we have enough bigs to handle that, but we didn't tonight."

It may have come as a surprise to some that Indiana pulled off the upset win, but Izzo knows Woodson has a good roster.

“What was Indiana picked at the beginning of the year?” Izzo said, referring to the preseason Big Ten media poll, which tabbed the Hoosiers second. “… Well anyway, that’s a very good team. That’s a very talented team.”

Izzo will certainly pass Knight for the most Big Ten wins of all time at some point this season. It would have made for an extra special night to do so against the team Knight used to coach, but he’ll have to wait. Izzo's Big Ten record fell to 353-173 over 30 seasons, and Knight's stands at 353-151.

For Izzo, the chance to break Knight’s record brought up many fond memories this week.

"I have memories of him kind of sneaking up on me in my first game [against Indiana in Bloomington], telling me how bad the officials are gonna be,” Izzo said Monday. “And he did it right in front of the officials, and the four of them laughed, and I was scared to death."

Indiana coach Bob Knight and Michigan State coach Tom Izzo talk on Jan. 11, 2000 in East Lansing. / Photo credit Al Goldis, Associated Press

"Probably one of my best memories is when we beat them the year we won the championship, and he told me we had a chance to win a championship after the game. He was great about everything."

"I was fortunate, but Bob, he was the standard. You look at the national championships he won ... You look at the Big Ten [titles] he won. Winning and him were synonymous, and that included the Olympics and that included basketball in general. So yeah, it's humbling to even talk about."

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