Nebraska Fans Storming the Court? Michigan State’s Tom Izzo ‘Absolutely Loved It'

The Spartans' veteran coach says flooding the court with joyful fans after a big win is part of the beauty of building a program.

Nebraska forward Jared Garcia celebrates with fans after the Huskers defeated Michigan State at Pinnacle Bank Arena. | Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

Michigan State’s Tom Izzo has been the Spartans’ men’s basketball coach for 31 years. He’s coached 1,054 games. He’s seen it all … and then some.

Izzo has enjoyed such success that his Spartans are nearly always the favorite, no matter the opponent. So when an opponent knocks off visiting MSU, it sometimes sparks a court-storming, as we saw Friday night at Pinnacle Bank Arena when Nebraska defeated Sparty, 58-56.

“The crowd, it was their biggest game in 36 years and they responded,” Izzo said in a postgame news conference. “The environment was the best I’ve seen here, and it’s always good here. It was one of the best I’ve seen in a lot of years anywhere in the Big Ten.”

Yes, the Huskers fans responded. It was a wild scene as fans poured out of the stands and onto the court. Huskers players were surrounded by cheering fans. Chants of “Go Big Red” were everywhere. It was sheer joy in Lincoln.

Court-storming?

What’s the big deal about storming the court? Izzo wanted to know.

“Their AD was there and he was great. I told my AD, I tell my commissioner, I understand we got to be careful [about court-storming] and all that,” Izzo said. “I absolutely loved it. Absolutely loved it. If there’s that much passion that they stormed the court, that, and what, I miss the question?

“Was I worried about anybody? I was hoping I got stomped on, to be very honest with you.”

Izzo doesn’t see much, if any, court-storming in East Lansing. When you’ve won the Big Ten 11 times, the Big Ten Tournament six times, and you’ve been to the Final Four eight times and won the national title, well, Spartans fans are used to success.

“That doesn’t happen much at our place,” Izzo said. “And it shouldn’t. But it should happen here. This is kind of a new experience. 

“That’s the beauty of what you do as you build a program … I wouldn’t want those people to react any — they were lining up back there, I was thinking to myself, ‘Go for it.’

“I thought it was great. And I think it’s somehow it’s probably a backhanded compliment to us. If we were a nobody they wouldn’t have stormed the court. So our guys got to realize that they play in a program that you’re somebody and you better answer the meat-and-potatoes of what a somebody means. A somebody means the toughness and winning time, making winning plays. We got to do a better job with that, the coaches, the players.”

Huskers players react

Huskers guard Jamarques Lawrence’s viewpoint about storming the court wasn’t aligned with Izzo’s opinion.

Nebraska guard Jamarques Lawrence dribbles around Ohio State guard John Mobley Jr. during the Huskers' win Monday night in Columbus. | Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

“We’re supposed to win that game, guys,” Lawrence said at a news conference after the Michigan State game. “No more court-storms, please. I just got to say that.”

Rienk Mast, who scored 19 points against Sparty and made the winning three-pointer, said after the Michigan State game:  “I like that the fans got to enjoy that moment but if you’re the No. 13 against the No. 9 and you’re at home, in my opinion, you’re supposed to win that game.

“I don’t blame the fans at all. They got excited for that win. I think from here on out, we’ve proven that we belong in these games, and we’re supposed to win these types of games.

“In the moment, it was, we’re supposed to win this one but I get it. I get it.”

Nebraska plays at Indiana on Saturday, and returns for its next home game Tuesday to play Oregon, which is 8-7, 1-3 in the Big Ten. A football victory over mighty Oregon might have Nebraska fans swarming the field at Memorial Stadium, but a basketball victory by the now 15-0, 10th-ranked Huskers? Probably not.

“We have a long season to go and we got to keep that mentality of every single game we got to prove it, that this [winning streak] isn’t a fluke and that we’re not just on a hot streak and we can go cold,” Mast said.

“We’ve got to stay poised and keep proving people wrong.

“You got to be in the moment and enjoy but like Jamarques [Lawrence] said, we have a group that’s old and knows if you ride the high, you can fall flat on your face.”

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