Michigan State Spartans Insider Podcast: Recapping Spartans' Win Over Wisconsin

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- No. 8 Michigan State took care of business again, this time defeating No. 11 Wisconsin, 71-62, at the Breslin Center on Sunday.

The Spartans got out to a slow start but proved once again that it's about how you finish -- and they certainly finished.

Michigan State went on a late 8-0 run that put the game out of reach for the visiting Badgers.

Our Aidan Champion recaps the contest on this latest edition of the Michigan State Spartans Insider Podcast.

You can watch the episode below:

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo addressed the media after the game. Below is a partial transcript from his press conference:

Q: Is your team embracing its defensive success late as part of its identity?

Izzo: "Jeremy [Fears Jr.] did a great job of that in the huddles. You had to lock up. If you get leads and you don't let them score, you can't lose. No matter how you play, I think there's a little bit of that. Those are battle cries that are good battle cries. It was just so strange. We're missing free throws, and we get the ball on a rebound, and they knock it out of our hands. There were a couple of calls I did not appreciate, but maybe I was wrong, maybe I was right. But it was a little bit of a helter-skelter ending, but it was a good helter-skelter."

Q: Can you speak to Jaxon Kohler's evolution as an elite rebounder and what makes him so effective in how he's become this?

Izzo: "Now, that is an intelligent question that I would agree with. I thought he'd be more of a scorer. I still think he can be a scorer. He's been shooting the 3-ball really well, and he missed two or three wide-open ones today. Monster heart, just like [Xavier] Tillman. He is just an animal to go there. He does it in our practices. Doug Wojcik and Saddi Washington say it best because they got him every night. There's never a day when he doesn't come to practice. There's never a day when he doesn't come to go hard. He's not gifted with long arms or two more inches or phenomenal jumping ability. I once told Zach Randolph -- Zach was there when I recruited him; It was 10 minutes from Zach's house -- I said, 'Z-Bo [Randolph], he's a lot like you, you know?' I'm not sure he ever gets a dunk in college, but he can rebound, and he's got some Z-Bo qualities. He's got good hands. He just has a nose for the ball. He's like a great linebacker. He has a nose for the ball, and some of those ones he got were in traffic, and I was going on the bench, 'How the hell did he get that?' Because their guys are good, too, and John Tonje is a good rebounder. He's got strength. Jaxon plays possessed. That's how he gets it done. He is like a heat-seeking missile. If we get everybody to play like that, we'll improve even more."

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