MSU’s Up-and-Down Win Over SJSU: Postgame Reactions

Let's talk through Michigan State's shaky victory over San Jose State on Thursday.
Michigan State's Cam Ward celebrates after his dunk against San Jose State during the second half on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025, at the Breslin Center in East Lansing.
Michigan State's Cam Ward celebrates after his dunk against San Jose State during the second half on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025, at the Breslin Center in East Lansing. | Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Michigan State looked great in the first half, and it looked pretty rough in the second half of its 79-60 victory over San Jose State on Thursday.

Let's talk about it.

Jordan Scot
Michigan State's Jordan Scott shoots against San Jose State during the second half on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025, at the Breslin Center in East Lansing. | Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

On this episode of the Michigan State Spartans Insider Podcast, I break down what looked good about the Spartans the other day, what didn't go so well, and talk about the overall outlook of the team through three games.

A full video of the podcast can be viewed below.

Watch the MSU Spartans Insider Podcast here:

Additionally, a partial transcript of head coach Tom Izzo's postgame press conference has been provided.

Tom Izzo

Tom Izzo
Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo yells to his players during a game against San Jose State on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025. | Starr Portice, Michigan State Spartans on SI

IZZO: They say there’s highs and lows in this job, and there were some highs and lows tonight. I really was looking forward to seeing how my team would respond to a little bit of success. 

And let’s get this straight, because I get sick of people acting like we’ve accomplished something because we won a game against a good team. Big deal. Big deal. We didn’t shoot it very well in that game, we played well enough to win the game, that was it.

I wanted to see how we’d start out. I thought we started out — they missed some shots, but I thought we started out phenomenal.

Defense was great, we’re checking, we’re rebounding, we were running. We’re missing some shots, and we’re missing some damn free throws. But I thought the energy, the effort was there all the way through, ‘til halftime.

Jeremy Fears Jr.
Michigan State guard Jeremy Fears Jr. communicates with his teammates during a game against San Jose State on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025. | Starr Portice, Michigan State Spartans on SI

What happened at halftime? I did a poor job of getting my team ready to play the second half. 

And we came out, and I had three key guys and all of them had good games for you [the media], for the fans, for their mommies, for their daddies, for their agents, for everybody else, they didn’t have good games for me.

Jeremy Fears [Jr.] played the best. He did everything I asked him to do. It wasn’t the threes he made at the end, that had zero with how he played. But he played with some passion.

We got fat and sassy at halftime, and for two seniors and a junior to get fat and sassy, that tells me that we’re not where we need to be, which is the good thing. So our fans won’t be fooled, the media won’t be fooled ‘cause we won one damn game. 

Jordan Scot
Michigan State's Jordan Scott, right, and San Jose State's Yaphet Moundi battle for a rebound during the second half on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025, at the Breslin Center in East Lansing. | Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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Jacob Cotsonika
JACOB COTSONIKA

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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