MSU's Tom Izzo Explains Spartans' Downfall in Loss to UM
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EAST LANSING, Mich. --- Tom Izzo was certainly not too pleased with his team's performance on Friday.
No. 7 Michigan State put itself in a big, 18-point hole during the first half against third-ranked Michigan. The Spartans were able to dig out of it and briefly take the lead in the second half, but the Wolverines pulled away late in an 83-71 loss for MSU. It is only Michigan State's third loss of the season, all of which have been to AP top-5 opponents.
Following the game, Izzo's press conference was much shorter than usual. A lot of his pressers after victories stretch to about 20 minutes. This one was only about 11 minutes long. Izzo still discussed several key reasons MSU fell short during that time.
Spartan Nation was there to capture it all. A full video of Izzo's postgame press conference can be viewed below:
Watch Tom Izzo here:
More from Izzo, Loss to Michigan
Izzo quickly identified a few things that he was displeased with during his opening statement. He also definitely seemed a little more bitter about this loss --- understandably so, given the opponent.
"Well, to say I'm disappointed would be an understatement," he said. "I did not like the way we played. I'll give Michigan credit. They played well, I guess. We're starting to have too many turnovers by our bigs, and I never thought I'd see the day when [Carson Cooper] gets two rebounds in a game, not in the first half, and I'm sure they had something to do with that."
The length of Michigan's frontcourt was definitely a big problem for MSU most of the night. Michigan State struggled to establish itself in the paint, especially during the first half. The Spartans ended up scoring 32 paint points to UM's 26, but the eye test about which team had the better bigs definitely leaned the Wolverines' way.
Jaxon Kohler and Cooper combined for 18 points and just seven combined rebounds. Cooper only had six points and two rebounds himself. Kohler's 12 and five is more respectable, but it came at the expense of a 4-for-13 shooting night. He ended up playing a team-high 36 minutes on Friday, something Izzo doesn't want to see every game.
"He's played too many minutes," Izzo said. "Our young guys just did not --- I thought Jesse [McCulloch] played well for three, four minutes, and then... So we played Jaxon, and then [Cooper] got in foul trouble, so we had to play Jaxon more, and I think his legs were gone at the end. I don't blame that on him; I blame that on me."
Izzo, to the surprise of approximately zero people, was also not pleased with the officiating, either. There were 43 combined foul calls on Friday night --- 22 on MSU, 21 on Michigan. Izzo was assessed a technical foul with 31 seconds remaining and the game essentially in UM's hands.
The call that Izzo singled out the most was the called hook-and-hold on Cam Ward during the first half. It came with Michigan up eight with 2:29 to go until halftime. The final call didn't seem very stunning, but the entire review process took several minutes, likely adding to Izzo's frustrations. Immediately after that call was made, UM went on an 8-0 run to extend its lead to 16.
"We're eight down, and we're going to shoot two free throws, and that [reversal] changed the game," Izzo said. "I was disappointed in the officiating, but more disappointed in my team. I just did not think that we played well enough."
Even though the loss to Michigan is certainly damaging, Michigan State is still in a very good spot at the moment. Before the season, tons of fans would likely take a guarantee that MSU enters February 19-3 overall, 9-2 against Big Ten opponents, and either ranked inside the top 10 or just outside of it (the next AP Poll comes out Monday).
Next week will be a week sort of similar to this past week: a road game against an uninspiring opponent, and then a game against a top-10 opponent on two days' prep. The Spartans go to Minnesota on Wednesday (7 p.m. ET, BTN) and then host No. 9 Illinois on Saturday (8 p.m. ET, FOX).
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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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