Tom Izzo Uses All Cash & No Credit In Blowout Of Rival Michigan

Tom Izzo Uses All Cash & No Credit In Blowout Of Rival Michigan

Breslin Center

East Lansing, MI

The #14 Michigan State Spartans beat up and beat down their arch-rival the #12 Michigan Wolverines today. That improves the men in green’s season record to 12-3 (4-0). The Spartans vs. Wolverines finished with a final score of 87-69.

The Spartans had two players score in double-digits. They were led by Cassius Winston who had a career night with 32 points and nine assists. Xavier Tillman had a double-double with 20 points, 11 rebounds.

Tom Izzo said of the contest, “I guess it was a big win for us because the final score was not indicative of the game as we all know. We got an 11, 12-point lead and we just couldn't build on it and that's credit to them. Disappointing things in the first half and I thought we shot the ball well, that we defended pretty well and every time we got a rebound (Zavier) Simpson, who is phenomenal at it, knocked balls loose and I think they got six, eight-points or something off of our rebounds. A three-point shot, a three-point play and a two and that was frustrating. Disappointed in a couple of my guys on that, but second half we had that lead 67-51 and I think Juwan (Howard) and I, neither one were happy with some things and I probably semi-deserved that penalty. I totally did but it wasn't for going out of the box. It was for explaining that I didn't like the call, didn't like the way I explained it so it's probably just a fight and that hurt us. It was a four-point thing so that hurt us, but Cassius (Winston) was unbelievable. His focus since he's come back, it's not all there yet. My trainer was worried before the game. We're still trying to spend a lot of time with him, trying to make sure that these big games and big moments when your families are all here. Those are times that he struggles, and he could go one of two ways and thank god he went the one way and Xavier Tillman is getting better and better and better. I think he's improving a lot like Draymond Green did his junior year. He's taking strides and he's become more comfortable with the ball, he's being more aggressive getting to the foul line 14 times, shooting the three a little better. That one was in-and-out, he would have been 2-for-3 and I thought those two guys, of course, were very efficient and then Aaron Henry got in foul trouble and that created some problems, but everybody did something. Gabe (Brown) hit some shotts, I was really happy for Rocket Watts to make a couple shots of his. He's been working hard at it while we had this break and I told him at the end, it's kind of funny how things work out when you work on them, but as far as Michigan goes we wanted to take away their three's and that's a little why, like Purdue that time, give (Jon) Teske credit he went to work on us early there. Again, I didn't like the way we covered him at times, but we made some adjustments, got a little better in the second half, but we didn't give up the wide-open threes. I feel (Zavier) Simpson, you've got to love Simpson, he plays so hard, he gets the job done and Brandon Johns Jr. from our area I thought played very well. We did a pretty good job on (Eli) Brooks and David DeJulius and I think that was one of the differences. (Franz) Wagner his one, but we did a decent job on how we had to do to win the game, I just didn't like the way we just kind of got to 11 and then we were trading buckets, but we're not going to distraught it yet. We're kind of half baked right now so we're trying to work on our game too.”

Izzo added of Winston’s career night, “He just looked more aggressive and focused. In the huddles, he was telling guys what to do. When I say he… he did a better job defensively, once in a while, he got a little tired but defensively…. I just felt like his orchestration in those huddles was something that is a coach's dream. Cash (Winston) what do you want to run, what do you think that we can run, how do you think they are playing them. He will tell X (Tillman) that if you change the angle on this, do this, do that. I think he has proved that… you know he was going to get a lot of attention today and it was one of the greater performances that this building has seen. I take my hat off to him, I really do… until tomorrow, then it is back to dog eat dog.”

The Wolverines were down star player Isaiah Livers, but East Lansing native Brandon Johns more than made up for his being lost. But the Spartans are still without former McDonalds All American Joshua Langford and Joey Hauser. Hauser is considered by many inside the program and on the staff as the best player on the Spartans roster.

Juwan Howard the Wolverine head coach said of the play of Winston, “Well Cassius is a superb, phenomenal player and he does an excellent job of reading whatever defense you throw at him. He's just elite level, it's that simple. Give him credit, he's crafty and has shown it all last year. That's the reason why he was player of the year in the Big Ten. That's the reason why he is a preseason Wooden finalist, Top Fifty, they don't just hand those out. You've got to be a special player and you've got to do some phenomenal things on the floor, with the ball and without.”

A humble Winston said of his night, “I was feeling good out there, just playing at my pace and playing in my rhythm. Everything was going right.”

Rocket Watts bragged on the play of his captain saying, “ He played amazing. My favorite play of his when he hit those back-to-back threes and he just threw up the money sign, I was like "oh man!”

I have been attending games at the Breslin Center since it opened. In my opinion, it was the best the crowd has ever been.

Izzo said when I asked him of the crowd, “Yeah, you know in that couple of times when they really got going and then we gave up a play, they would have raised the roof. I mean even I was sitting there saying, 'wow' and that was during the game. I can't thank the people enough. It's been a phenomenal holiday and then getting our youthful Izzone back and having them with the energy that maybe the old people had was great. I can't say enough about the crowd. I mean Jaren Jackson's mom and dad were here and they come on in after and it was just kind of a fun thing to see and do and I was appreciative of it.”

I asked Howard about the crowd as well, “When you play a team on the road, of course, and it being your rival, the Michigan versus Michigan State rivalry, the atmosphere is going to be electric and energized. When you go away, on the road, you expect any team that you play in the Big Ten, that their crowd is going to be into it. So it was no surprise to us."

The men in the green lead the Wolverines on the boards with 43-34. The Spartans had 13 turnovers. The Spartan defense held the Wolverines to 36% shooting from the field and a stingy 22% from three.

The Spartans had the lead for 39:30 of the 40 minutes in the game. In all Tom Izzo played all 16 available players. Seven of them scored.

Izzo’s men continued their habit of being unselfish. They had 16 assists on 28 baskets. The Spartans shot 47% from three, 53% from the field and a disappointing 73% from the charity stripe.

The team will return to the hard-court Thursday, January 9, 2020, at the Breslin Center against Minnesota. That game can be seen on ESPN at 9:00 PM.

The Spartans open Big Ten play 4-0 as previously mentioned. They are winning conference games by a 14 point margin on average.

I asked Izzo about the start and the margin of those wins and he said, “Well I'm happy. I do realize that what I've got to keep in perspective with these guys and I've warned them about it because I said everybody is coming back to school. And you know everybody will be hugging and kissing everybody and we've won three of the games at home. One of them, Northwestern, who I still think is a good win especially under the circumstances, is at the bottom of our league, so there is perspective I'm keeping to this whole deal. I'm more worried about do we keep getting better because I think we've got a long way to go still. You know, Marcus (Bingham) in that first half might as well have been, 'Here Teske, why don't you just throw a lay up in or dunk it.' Second-half he fought him m a little bit more. We have to do better because we're not as physical a team. I mean we outrebounded them decently, but we're not nearly as physical as teams I've had or think we have to be to really compete for something. You know, a couple more weeks and then things start separating. We have a tough game against Minnesota because Minnesota has been playing awfully well, should have beat (Purdue) from what I was told out there. They've had a couple big wins and they've got a great big man. Xavier (Tillman), you know Cassius (Tillman) is special, but don't sleep on Xavier (Tillman). Xavier (Tillman) has improved a lot and when he had that bad free-throw shooting day. Today, I had a pre-game meal and I come walking back from the hotel and he's walking into the gym. I said, 'What the hell are you doing here this early?' It was like you know, two hours before they were supposed to be here. And he said, 'I'm going to go shoot some free throws and watch some tape.' I said, 'Wow, kudos.' I think that's what happens, and unfortunately winning helps that but I think there's getting to be a lot more trust between players and coaches. It's something with young guys, it's part of developing it doesn't just happen. I told you the respect factor now if I'm the head coach, you're the player that means nothing. I've gotta earn mine, they've gotta earn theirs. But when you start to do it, your teams starts to grow. I think Michigan's been playing awfully well and I think they're going to be a very good team. They'll get hopefully their guy back and that will have a factor in it. You've got to give Brandon Johns Jr. credit, he played good at home today in his spot, they got almost the same amount of points. They are going to get better too and I thought the job we did on (Eli) Brooks or the fact that he didn't get many shots up was a big part. I really think his improvement has been part of why they've become a very good team.”

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*** SPECIAL THANK YOU TO SHANE D. CARPENTER FOR THE HEADLINE***