WATCH: Michigan State's Tom Izzo Reflects on Win Over Northwestern, Looks Ahead to Penn State

No. 12 Michigan State will look to keep its unblemished Big Ten record alive on Wednesday when it hosts Penn State.
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EAST LANSING, Mich. No. 12 Michigan State extended its perfect Big Ten record to 5-0 on Sunday when it bested Northwestern, 78-68, on the road.

The Spartans held a dominant lead at halftime but allowed the Wildcats to fight back, coming as close as 8 points in the final 20 seconds of the game. But Michigan State prevailed, and in doing so, earned its ninth-straight win while improving to 14-2 on the season.

Next, the Spartans will be back at home to host Penn State on Wednesday. The Nittany Lions just came close to upsetting No. 13 Oregon but ultimately fell short by just a point.

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo addressed the media on Monday, reflecting on the victory in Evanston while looking ahead to Wednesday's matchup.

You can watch below:

Below is a partial transcript from Izzo's opening statement of his postgame press conference that followed Sunday's contest:

Izzo: "What a strange game. I was concerned about the quick turnaround. I thought my staff did a great job again getting us prepared. The players were phenomenal as far as the prep for the game, and then, we had some plane problems yesterday; didn't shoot and all the things you normally do, so a little adversity, and I thought we handled it pretty well. We came out to play maybe our best half of basketball against a team that everybody talks about them being 1-2 [in conference], and they play that Iowa game 100 times and they win it 99, it just happened. And they lost two games that I think they deserved to win and three and be 3-1 besides 1-3. ... They're struggling a little bit like we did. [Ty] Berry's a good player, and when our shooters were not shooting, it really affects the whole game. But [Nick] Martinelli and [Brooks] Barnhizer, I mean, we put a lot into those two guys. And they're really good players and really tough kids. And God, as a fan, I love to watch them. But we did what we had to do, we didn't play as good the second half; I think they had something to do with it, and I think we had something to do with it. But this is a big road win for us right now. I think any road win is a big win, but against a quality team, and playing pretty good three-quarters of the game."

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