Izzo: When Michigan State Plays Oakland, It’s a ‘Dogfight’

Michigan State's Tom Izzo credits Greg Kampe and the Golden Grizzlies for competing against MSU year after year.

East Lansing, MI – Right now, Michigan State is a team that can hang with anyone, but not one capable of overwhelming inferior opponents, yet.

Yes, we've seen how dominant the Spartans are against Duke and Notre Dame, although slow starts versus Detroit Mercy, Western Michigan, and Oakland lend a hand in making my point relevant.

For the most part, Sunday afternoon was a battle with OU looming, Rashad Williams having a career-day, Jalen Moore dropping 21 points in the second half, and only being down four at intermission.

The Golden Grizzlies made 18 3-pointers, but Michigan State dominated in just about every other area, eventually pulling away.

"It doesn't matter if we are No. 1 on the country, if we are fifth in the country, if we are 25th or if we are 105 – it doesn't matter if they are really good or very average," MSU's Tom Izzo said. "I tell my team every year it's going to be a dogfight (Greg Kampe, head coach) because he just does a hell of a job."

Izzo credited the Golden Grizzlies gameplan and its ability to execute the zone they played defensively but questioned whether or not OU would shoot the basketball that well again.

"(Rashad) Williams was unbelievable. We actually did a pretty good job on (Jalen) Moore," said Izzo. "I mean, he still ended up 5-for-7; still ended up with 26-points, but we did a decent job on him … our three-point defense and our dribble penetration were atrocious."

Michigan State should be fine next week when the competition gets tougher; however, there's room for improvement before MSU's conference opener against Northwestern.

"Those of you that think we're somebody, yet," he said. "We are somebody; we're somebody that needs a lot of work."

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