Why MSU's Tom Izzo Sees Win over Washington as 'Weird'
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Saturday definitely had some peculiarities for Michigan State.
The 12th-ranked Spartans got an 80-63 victory over Washington to reach 16-2 overall on the season and 6-1 during Big Ten play, but they didn't take their normal path to a victory during it. MSU head coach Tom Izzo pointed it out during his opening statement at the postgame press conference.
"I'll be honest with you, that was a big but strange win for us," he said. "Some of our best players really struggled, and give Washington credit on that."
Multiple players had semi-unusual performances for Michigan State, both good and bad. Since it still added up to a relatively comfortable victory, that can be a positive sign for the future.
Quiet Game for Kohler
One of the most interesting parts is that MSU still ended up winning a Quad 1 game by 17 points, despite the quietest individual performance from Jaxon Kohler.
The Spartans' star senior big man finished with only seven points, which is the first time all season that he had been held beneath 10 for an entire game. Kohler also only had seven rebounds, which is tied for the third-fewest he's had in a game this season.
He also only ended up playing 22 minutes, which was the fewest for Kohler against a power conference team this season. Washington seemed like a matchup where Kohler would be important, as the Huskies boasted 6-foot-11 Hannes Steinbach, the Big Ten's leading rebounder and a projected first-round NBA draft pick.
"He struggled all day, and that's just not like him," Izzo said. "So I'm not worried about him at all. He's my hardest worker and probably my best player. That'll work itself out."
Leaning on Depth
Izzo ended up giving 11 different players serious minutes during Saturday's game. MSU has routinely relied on its "strength in numbers," but there have been games where the number of players who see truly significant playing time has been at eight or nine at points this season.
The effort to make up for Kohler's lost production didn't fall on one person. It was, largely, spread out. Cam Ward, outside of his unusual flagrant foul, played pretty well and ended up grabbing seven rebounds. Jesse McCulloch, one guy who has been on the rotation's bubble all season, only got one opportunity to take a shot, and he ended up drilling a three during the first half that extended the Spartans' lead to 10 at the time.
Some of it still went to the stars, though. Jeremy Fears Jr. ended up taking over during the second half and led Michigan State with 19 points on the night. Kur Teng contributed 11 points, and Carson Cooper ended up with 10.
That's not normally MSU's top three in the scoring department, but it's important for this team to prove to itself that it can win games in multiple ways.
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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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