Three Observations from MSU’s Motor City Victory Over Oakland
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DETROIT — It’s pretty common for Oakland to be a pain in Michigan State’s backside, and Saturday was no different during the ninth-ranked Spartans’ 79-70 win.
“I said before the game, if we can win by one and get out of here, I'd be happy,” MSU head coach Tom Izzo said after the game. “I'm not gonna go home and do cartwheels, ‘cause I think we’ve got a lot of work to do. But I'm gonna be happy because it's been a hell of a long, good, and stressful 12 games.”
MSU only led by three at halftime, and the victory did not feel 100% in its grasp until there were about two minutes remaining in the game. The final margin was more decisive last year (19), but the Spartans were only up last year. That game was also in Detroit.
This is still a new season and a new team for both sides. Here are a few observations that I had during my hours inside Little Caesars Arena.
Zone Confusion
Izzo seemed to expect that this would happen, but Oakland’s zone defense was causing major problems for Michigan State on Saturday, especially during the first half.
Greg Kampe and Izzo are extremely close, but I do wonder if Izzo is also putting the Golden Grizzlies on the schedule every year just so his team can know what it’s like to face a zone defense more, since MSU never plays it.
“The only thing I will say about this zone, it's so good — I can't give [Kampe] that much credit — I don't think he knows what they're doing sometimes,” Izzo said.
Seven of Michigan State’s 11 turnovers in the game were during the first half. MSU did not shoot the three-ball very well Saturday, and it took the Spartans a bit of time to figure out how to safely get the ball close to the rim, whether that be with dribble penetration or through passing lanes.
Combating the zone has always sort of been Izzo’s kryptonite, but it’s still never that simple. If all it took to beat Michigan State and Izzo was switching to zone, teams would have done it by now. Just ask Kampe, who is 0-24 against MSU now.
“I play all man-to-man; [Kampe] plays all zone,” Izzo said. “There’s two different ways to skin a cat, and he’s been very successful at what he does.”
Coen Carr’s Red Eye
Coen Carr had a career-high 22 points on Saturday, leading both the Spartans and Golden Grizzlies in scoring. It was previously 18 from Michigan State’s game against Bryant in the first round of last season’s NCAA Tournament run.
That was despite the fact that Carr’s left eye was red, which is a result of him being poked in the eye during practice. He started the game wearing a pair of goggles, but seemed to quickly take them off.
“It actually feels worse than it looks,” Carr said after the game.
This was also despite a pretty slow start for Carr. He was one of the first starters to be subbed out of the game after he had taken and missed two three-pointers and committed a turnover across the game's first three minutes or so.
“He had a pretty good game,” Izzo said. “I mean, he still missed some wide open shots, but I think he got some confidence, and he did get some big time rebounds, and that's the way he's gotta play. We need him to play well if we're gonna be anything better than we are.”
An Appreciative Izzo, Kampe
Izzo and Kampe were both together in front of the press, and it was really more of a podcast between the two super-long-time coaches, rather than a Q&A with the media. It started with Kampe stealing the chair Izzo was initially in, but then it became a pretty thought-provoking discussion on what this game means for both programs.
Something that stuck out was that the goal for both of them was to “win the season,” rather than to win the game. Neither Izzo nor Kampe like losing, but both of these programs have bigger goals than winning non-conference games in December.
“I told my team… would you rather win and go to the NCAA Tournament or win this game?” Kampe said. “And what we learned from this game will help us in our conference. Because there's nobody like [Izzo’s] guys there.”
Izzo has a long NCAA Tournament streak to maintain, and also is seeking Final Four No. 9 and national title No. 2. Those are a *little* out of reach for Oakland and Kampe, but the tourney is always there, and the Golden Grizzlies have a real chance to make it; they’re the top-rated team in the Horizon League on KenPom and are already 2-0 in conference play.
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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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