Why MSU's Izzo Considers Team Lucky to Escape Rutgers with Win

Michigan State was hardly on its "A-game" against Rutgers on Tuesday night.

The seventh-ranked Spartans trailed for 36 minutes --- literally 90% of regulation --- but still found a way to force overtime against Rutgers and win 88-79 in overtime. It felt like a win MSU was extremely fortunate to get, and head coach Tom Izzo shared that sentiment after the game.

Michigan State's Tom Izzo yells at a referee about a call made during a game against Northwestern at the Breslin Center on Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. | Starr Portice, Michigan State Spartans on SI

"I hope the better team won, but the better team didn't win tonight, if that makes any sense," Izzo said during his postgame press conference. "I think we've got a pretty good team, but tonight, they [Rutgers] deserved to beat us."

Michigan State was down by 12 with a bit more than nine minutes to go. The offense looked surprised by the Scarlet Knights' physicality, and Rutgers' shotmaking and ability to take care of the ball were much better than MSU's through 31 minutes. The Spartans ended up outscoring RU 42-21 the rest of the way, which includes the five-minute overtime period, which Michigan State handled, 15-6.

More from Izzo

Michigan State's Tom Izzo smiles from the bench during a game against Maryland at the Breslin Center on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. | Starr Portice, Michigan State Spartans on SI

Izzo seemed to foreshadow the possibility of a slower game when he spoke publicly on Monday. That game against third-ranked Michigan on Friday night (8 p.m. ET, FOX) was the "elephant in the room" for the team, as Izzo described it.

No matter how many times a coach tells his players to respect every opponent equally and to stay locked on the next game, it's impossible not to at least peer around the corner a little bit. There wasn't a player who didn't know who the next opponent was once the Rutgers game ended.

Izzo isn't going to go out and say his players weren't focused enough because of another game coming up, but one has to wonder how much of a factor it was here. MSU certainly did not look as mentally sharp as normal during the first 30 minutes or so. Very preventable turnovers were happening, and even Jeremy Fears Jr. was committing frustration fouls during the first half.

Sometimes, though, to win things like Big Ten championships, one has to be fortunate once in a while.

Jan 24, 2026; East Lansing, Michigan, USA; Michigan State Spartans head coach Tom Izzo reacts during the first half against the Maryland Terrapins at Jack Breslin Student Events Center. Mandatory Credit: Dale Young-Imagn Images | Dale Young-Imagn Images

"I can only say that to win championships or to win a lot of games, you've got to be good," Izzo said. "But every now and then, you've got to be lucky. Tonight, we'll put that one on the lucky side.

"We were lucky. Can we learn from lucky? Sure. We'll see if we can."

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