Tom Izzo says Michigan State basketball has a problem despite 10th straight win

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EAST LANSING – Tom Izzo arrived to his postgame press conference heated.

Never mind No. 12 Michigan State basketball’s 10th straight win. Or the Spartans’ sixth in a row to open Big Ten play. Or their 15-2 record, all benchmarks they reached Wednesday night that Izzo’s teams haven’t hit in the six years since his last Final Four trip.

The numbers burning in Izzo’s brain after MSU’s 90-85 victory over Penn State were far more recent and far more worrisome.

The 41 second-half points yielded in a home win over Washington six days earlier. The 40 second-half points given up on the road Sunday at Northwestern. And the tipping point, the 49 second-half points allowed against the Nittany Lions that brought Izzo’s ire to a boil.

“That’s a problem, OK?,” Izzo said. “That is a problem.”

Michigan State’s Jase Richardson, center, reacts after he was called for a foul after he blocked shot by Penn State’s Ace Baldwin Jr. during the second half on Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025, at the Breslin Center in East Lansing.

The continued lack of consistency in performance irked him so much he threatened to give his players “Be the Same” T-shirts to replace the “Be Different” mantra they unveiled not even a week ago.

“So that means we cannot handle success right now,” Izzo said, his voice rising and emphasizing his frustration. “So quit saying where we are. Because we’re not anywhere yet.

“We’re a good basketball team that’s got a long, long, long, LONG ways to go to get better. OK? Period. That’s where we are.”

Classic midseason Izzo.

It comes from the lessons of his previous 29 seasons, seeing teams he felt could become great in January sometimes rise and sometimes begin to crumble around this point of the long winter.

Michigan State’s head coach Tom Izzo, right, argues with a referee during the first half in the game against Penn State on Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025, at the Breslin Center in East Lansing.

MSU opened its 2018-19 season with an 18-2 record and nine…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/tom-izzo-says-michigan-state-172317715.html

Author : Detroit Free Press

Publish date : 2025-01-16 17:23:00

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