MSU's Izzo Identifies Best Win, Toughest Loss of His Career

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo has had some legendary wins and some very tough losses in his 30 seasons as the Spartans' leader. He picked one of each that stand out to him.

Mar 31, 2019; Washington, DC, USA; Michigan State Spartans guard Cassius Winston (5) cuts down the net after the Spartans' game against the Duke Blue Devils in the championship game of the east regional of the 2019 NCAA Tournament at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images | Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

Michigan State's legendary basketball coach, Tom Izzo, comes off yet another memorable NCAA Tournament run that saw his team defy expectations and make it all the way to the Elite Eight after winning the Big Ten by three games.

In his 30 years as Michigan State's head coach, Izzo has been a part of some incredible upsets and has also been on the other side of some more infamous ones.

During his recent interview with CBS Sports college basketball insider Jon Rothstein on his show, "Inside College Basketball Now," Rothstein asked Izzo what the best win and toughest loss of his career have been, not including the Final Four.

Toughest loss

"We got beat by UConn in Madison Square Garden," Izzo said. "We had a lead at halftime and just didn't play well, they did. That was one of the fewer times I lost to a worse seed and that they went on to win the National Championship."

Before this past season, that 2014 tournament run had been the last time Izzo had lost in the Elite Eight. Michigan State had been a 4-seed and entered the season as the No. 2 overall team in the country in the AP rankings.

The Spartans would be bested by the overachieving No. 7-seed Huskies, who, as Izzo said, went on to win it all.

Michigan State would get to the Final Four the following year with a less talented team, but it fell short of another trip to the National Championship Game when it went up against a stacked Duke team.

Best win

You guessed it.

"The win was against Duke in Washington, D.C., with Zion there," Izzo said. "I had a couple of those kind of wins -- Louisville was the No. 1 overall, Duke. But that one, because I've always (had a) respect (for) Mike (Krzyzewski) and their program, and that was a day I''ll never forget. Magic (Johnson) gave the pre-game speech, and I should have a lot used him last year, now that I think about it."

The memory of Cassius Winston dribbling out the clock after receiving an inbound pass from Xavier Tillman Sr. still remains fresh in the minds of the Spartan faithful. Izzo and his team knocked off one of the most talented teams to never win it all, pulling off what was seen as an incredibly unlikely upset, despite having been the No. 2 seed in the region.

Mar 31, 2019; Washington, DC, USA; Michigan State Spartans guard Cassius Winston (5) dribble the ball past Duke Blue Devils guard Tre Jones (3) in the closing seconds in the championship game of the east regional of the 2019 NCAA Tournament at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images | Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

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