Tom Izzo’s mission during Michigan State basketball’s 10-day break before Oakland

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EAST LANSING — What a difference a year has made for Michigan State basketball.

The Spartans hit their finals week last December with a 4-5 record and coming off back-to-back losses to open Big Ten play. They went to Detroit after exams and promptly rebuilt their mojo with a blowout win over top-10 Baylor and won five straight.

This year, the biggest challenge for coach Tom Izzo is sustaining the momentum from three high-level performances. And doing so through a 10-day layoff between games as No. 19 MSU prepares to return to Little Caesars Arena on Tuesday to face the Oakland Golden Grizzlies.

“The advantage this team has had is we’ve been practicing like we’ve been playing,” Izzo said Friday, “and we’ve been playing like we’ve been practicing.”

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo reacts during the second half of the game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Breslin Center on Dec. 7, 2024 in East Lansing.

The Spartans (8-2, 2-0 Big Ten) put together impressive consecutive conference victories on the road at Minnesota and at home against Nebraska, after returning from beating North Carolina 94-91 in overtime in their final game of the Maui Invitational. It was one of the most impressive three-game stretches in recent program history that catapulted Izzo’s team into the top 25 for the first time this season.

MSU averaged 91 points in the three wins and allowed 71.7 points, buoyed by Saturday’s 89-52 throttling of the Cornhuskers after opening Big Ten play with a 90-72 victory over the Gophers. It is the defensive side, though, where senior guard Jaden Akins said he feels the Spartans have made the most growth since the start of the season.

“I feel like we’ve been really connected on that end,” Akins said Friday after practice. “And our offense has definitely picked up a lot, just making shots, and that’s helped us a lot.”

The Spartans owned the rebounding in the three games (38.3-23.7) and held opponents to 42.9% shooting overall and 32.9% from 3-point range. They…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/tom-izzos-mission-during-michigan-110602523.html

Author : Detroit Free Press

Publish date : 2024-12-14 11:06:00

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