Michigan State basketball looks for Tom Izzo record with alums, 2000 title team in town

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EAST LANSING — When Jase Richardson looks into the stands Saturday, he’ll see his father, Jason. Alongside a whole bunch of “uncles” who also know what the Michigan State basketball freshman is going through.

It’s the family coach Tom Izzo has built over 30 years.

The elder Richardson and his 2000 Spartan teammates will be honored guests and among the former players back for the alumni reunion weekend as No. 9 MSU hosts Oregon (noon, Fox).

“When alumni come back, you want to show them that what they were doing back then is still being taught today and is still being executed today,” junior forward Jaxon Kohler said after practice Thursday. “And that’s something we have in mind every game, but specifically alumni games. We want to show them, ‘Hey, we never forgot what you did for us and for this program.’

“It’s kind of our way of saying thank you for all the hard work that you put into this program, to make this reputation what it is today. And we want to make sure that they know that we’re trying to uphold those same standards as they did.”

Michigan State’s Jase Richardson, left, talks with head coach Tom Izzo during a break in the action in the game against Florida Atlantic on Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024, in East Lansing.

And as Jason Richardson watches his son, as he has a few times this season, he will see a lot of himself in Jase — a talented freshman coming off the bench and trying to make a big-time contribution to a Big Ten title-chasing team.

One trying to again find stability after its first two-game losing streak of the season.

The Spartans (18-4, 9-2 Big Ten) snapped a 13-game win streak with back-to-back defeats at USC last Saturday and UCLA on Tuesday. In those two losses — 70-64 to the Trojans and 63-61 to the Bruins — MSU was held to two of its three lowest point outputs of the season. The Spartans also committed 29 turnovers combined, getting 18 total fastbreak points between the two games despite entering averaging 18.5 a game.

“I feel…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/michigan-state-basketball-looks-tom-145131879.html

Author : Lansing State Journal

Publish date : 2025-02-08 14:51:00

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