Michigan State's Tom Izzo Previews Western Michigan, More

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Michigan State will soon be returning from yet another long break, now having two more wins since its last one.

The Spartans are preparing to host Western Michigan in what will be their final non-conference matchup of the season.

The game, set to be played at 3 p.m. on Monday, will serve as a reunion between Michigan State and its former assistant head coach, Dwayne Stephens, who also played for the Spartans. Stephens is the Broncos' head coach, a role he has held since April, 2022.

Izzo talked about facing Stephens, the holiday break and more when he addressed the media after his team's practice on Saturday.

You can watch below:

Below is a partial transcript from Izzo's media availability:

Q: How do you keep the team in-sync right now?

Izzo: "Yeah, I'm normally not -- I'm more of a pessimist than an optimist, but we came back, we had a great practice the 26th for like an hour and 15, and then, we went two-a-days yesterday, had two really good practices, and today was phenomenal. At the end, we got a little tired, which we should, and now we're into one-a-days with some meetings. But really pleased by the way they're kind of -- strength in numbers is really helping us right now."

Q: You don't love these games against former assistants?

Izzo: "Yeah, I don't. I don't like them. I like them because I think it's really good for them, from the standpoint they get to play here and make some money, but it's not good for me. I mean, there's a guy [Dwayne Stephens] that I coached and worked for me for a lot of years. And the funniest part is he's got a good team, they just haven't played together. He's had three guys that have been out a lot, two guys that are really good players. His best player has only played in three games. So the scouting reports -- they are a little different. The kid's averaging 17 a game since he's come back, and we don't have a lot on him. Here's a team that lost a 20-point lead and lost the last game that was a killer. But it's also a team that was 10-up on Dayton; we thought Dayton was one of the best teams in Maui. So, they got a couple of guys that can really fill it up, they got size, they got big size, and I'd say DJ knows our system pretty good."

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