WATCH: Michigan State Coach Tom Izzo Reflects on Indiana, Looks Ahead to Illinois
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- No. 11 Michigan State is looking to regroup after an upset loss to Indiana at home but now prepares for an even tougher opponent on the road: Illinois.
These two teams last met less than a month ago when the Spartans narrowly defeated the Fighting Illini at the Breslin Center.
Both teams have fallen behind in the Big Ten standings since then and will each be looking to earn a win that will be critical to their respective seasons.
Michigan State coach Tom Izzo reflected on the loss to Indiana and discussed his team's upcoming road test when he addressed the media on Thursday.
You can watch below:
Below is a transcript from Izzo's postgame press conference following the Spartans' loss to Indiana on Tuesday:
Izzo: "Well, to say disappointment would be an understatement. Give Indiana a lot of credit. Everybody knows they've gone through hell, and give Mike [Woodson] credit. I mean, he did a better job than I did. And there's so many areas that I am disappointed in. The three layups we missed in the first half, they get costly as you go, but the foul trouble we got in and poor job that we did -- we couldn't double the post, but we sure could have dug down, and we didn't do that. And I take full responsibility for that. I mean, the guy [Malik Reneau] just killed us second half. I told you [in the] press conference earlier, I was worried about him, but there's not a lot of film on him, because he hasn't played in a month. And we didn't do a very good job on him. And we were in so much foul trouble that our bigs really couldn't guard well. But we also missed the three, four layups, and we missed some incredible, I thought, open 3s, but that's the way the game goes. That's why got to win games defensively. The 3s don't always come. And did a decent job with our turnovers. OK job rebounding the ball against a good team. But a lot of people, including my two college roommates, that came a long way, and Steve Smith and a lot of people came in for it, and I feel bad for them because we had an opportunity for a special night. And I don't think the players played very well, and I don't think the coaches coached very well. So, that's a bad combination against a team that was desperate. I don't want to take anything away from Indiana. They didn't hardly take a shot in the second half, they just pounded the ball inside, pounded the ball inside, pounded the ball inside. And again, we were in so much foul trouble, we didn't guard it very well, and then, we didn't adjust to some of that, and we lost the game."
Don’t forget to follow the official Spartan Nation Page on Facebook Spartan Nation WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE, and be a part of our vibrant community group Go Green Go White as well WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE.
