3 Most Interesting Things Tom Izzo Said After MSU Beat Iowa

The Spartans earned a much-needed victory over the Hawkeyes in nail-biting fashion...

Following a 63-61 win over Iowa, in a game that came down to the final possession, Michigan State men's basketball coach Tom Izzo admitted he wasn't sure the Spartans deserved to win the game with how they played.

Yet, Izzo agreed with what former MSU coach Jud Heathcote's used to say — 'An ugly win is better than a pretty loss.'

With the win, Michigan State improved to 14-7 overall and sits tied for third in the Big Ten standings at 6-4, three games behind current leader Purdue. Here are three other interesting things that Izzo had to say after the Spartans' victory:

1.) “I’ve always believed that the ‘next man up’ theory is a crock. You’ve got to do it, but you’re never as good if you lose your key players. You’ve got to find a way, there’s no excuses, nobody cares, it doesn’t matter, but the reality of it is…Malik Hall brings some calmness to me.”

What was humorous about this comment from Izzo is that throughout the majority of this past football season at Michigan State we heard coach Mel Tucker and several Spartan football players use the “next man up” moniker repeatedly.

To be fair to Tucker and his team, there’s a big difference between a football roster that has 85 scholarship players and Izzo’s basketball roster which has 10 scholarship players. However, it was refreshing to hear Izzo brush away the ‘next man up’ cliche and tell it like it is – Michigan State is a far better team with Malik Hall available. With the win over Iowa, the Spartans improve to 8-2 in games in which Hall has played. They are 6-5 in games that Hall did not play.

When MSU football lost linebacker Darius Snow for the season, and safety Xavier Henderson for a long stretch, there was no ‘next man up’ on the Spartans’ roster that were going to replace those guys, just like there’s no player on this basketball roster that can replace what Hall brings to the team.

2.) “I like that…I’ve had some guys did that over the past. My first time was Steve Smith. I remember Smitty – we got our butts kicked by somebody – and the game ended and nobody could find him. He was in the weight room. Those kind of guys, if you’ve got that drive it’s going to pay dividends…I’m proud of him for that.”

Here, Izzo is referring to point guard A.J. Hoggard, who after the game was seen shooting free throws as the Breslin Center crowd began filing out of the arena. With 20 seconds left in the game, Hoggard had a chance to increase Michigan State’s lead to either three or four points, but he missed the front end of a 1-and-1 at the foul line.

On the final possession, Iowa got two looks at potential game-winning three-pointers, but both bounced away. Hoggard, who is an emotional leader for the Spartans, said after the game that if either of those two Hawkeye shots had fallen he “would have been crushed.” While it’s not the first time we’ve seen a player work on his game immediately following the end of a game, it does show Hoggard’s leadership and drive to be the best version of himself for this team.

3.) “I’m not very pleased with our offense right now. There’s a lot of standings around…With Joey, Malik, Tyson – we’ve got enough shooters. We should be a better offensive team than we are.”

Michigan State has struggled at the offensive end of the floor for much of the 2022-23 season. The Spartans are 10th in the Big Ten in points per game (69.3), ninth in shooting percentage (44.4).

There are a couple factors weighing against the Spartans here. First, Michigan State hasn’t had much practice time with their full complement of players, due to Jaden Akins’ foot surgery prior to the season and Hall’s missed time in-season. Second, the Spartans don’t have a post threat that the can throw the ball to and get good looks around the basket.

Michigan State is overly-reliant on outside jumpers. Fortunately, the Spartans are fourth in the Big Ten in three-point shooting percentage (37.6), but as the saying goes, ‘You live by the three, you die by the three.’

The hope is that with Hall healthy again Michigan State will naturally begin to build better offensive chemistry as this group of players practice and play together more. Akins has really come into his own in recent games, and a big portion of that is the fact that he’s back to full health and finally has a solid number of practices under his belt.

If there’s a silver-lining to the injuries the Spartans have struggled through, it’s that Michigan State has had a solid season so far and yet has the potential to be much better by season’s end.