What MSU's Tom Izzo Said After Reaching 17th Sweet Sixteen
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BUFFALO, N.Y. --- Tom Izzo has been here before (many times, actually), but that doesn't diminish the moment for him.
"Nope," Izzo said with some emotion when asked if reaching the Sweet Sixteen doesn't mean quite as much anymore. "The Sweet Sixteens are, I guess, those are a little bit of a separator. I think getting in the [NCAA] tournament, we just kind of take that for granted at our place, and so do I, so I don't blame anybody else.
"But you get to the Sweet Sixteen, you've gotta win two games, and winning two games now is different. If you used to get a top-1, -2, or -3 seed, it got you out of the first weekend when I started. It barely gets you out of the first game now. Sweet 16, it's what it says: sweet."
This is Izzo's 17th Sweet Sixteen as a head coach, getting there again Saturday with a 77-69 win over Louisville. Even though he gets there more often than he doesn't, it was clear that the moment had some real meaning for him.
Tom Izzo Postgame Scrum
Izzo on Carr, Fears, Fort
Three standout performances helped propel Izzo's Spartans to a victory in this one. Coen Carr especially pops out on the stat sheet, as he recorded his first career double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds. He was all over the place on Saturday, hitting threes, slamming dunks that tangled up the net and rim, and also blocking a couple of other shots.
"I know one thing: it makes me sleep easier at night," Izzo said about Carr's game. "I'll tell you that right now. He was beautiful to watch. It wasn't that he hit a three, and it wasn't that he made a couple of free throws: it was the rebounding and the defense."
Jeremy Fears Jr. also did his thing and then some. It wasn't his best scoring day on Saturday, but that can be ignored when it means he dishes out 16 assists, surpassing, oh, just Magic Johnson for the most assists in an NCAA Tournament game in Michigan State history. Fears dubbed MSU "Point Guard University" during his postgame interview, too.
"If I were these guys, and I was in the same breath with Mateen Cleaves or Magic Johnson or Steve Smith, that's an honor," Izzo said.
The Spartans also got another really nice off-the-bench performance from Trey Fort, who provided 12 points and some mammoth threes at key moments. Fort received 19 minutes during the game, the most he's seen since he got 21 during MSU's win over North Carolina in Fort Myers on Nov. 27, which was also his last start.
"He didn't come in entitled, but he definitely learned real quick entitlement doesn't work at our place," Izzo said about the former Samford transfer. "And just give him credit, man, for constantly working."
A 2025 graduate from Michigan State University, Cotsonika brings a wealth of experience covering the Spartans from Rivals and On3 to his role as Michigan State Spartans Beat Writer on SI. At Michigan State, he was also a member of the world-renowned Spartan marching band for two seasons.
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