A quarter-century after his lone national title, Tom Izzo comes up short again in March Madness

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ATLANTA — Tom Izzo pounded the scorers’ table in frustration.

He cusped his hands behind his head, struggling to figure out some way for his Michigan State team to make a few baskets in the NCAA Tournament’s South Region final.

During an especially excruciating sequence for the Spartans, he couldn’t even bear to watch as one shot after another clanked off the rim, even as his ever-hustling players grabbed three straight offensive rebounds.

Izzo looked away, shaking his head.

A quarter-century after his lone national championship, the title drought for one of college basketball’s greatest coaches stretched to another year.

The cold-shooting Spartans fell behind by 15 points in the opening minutes and never could fight all the way back against the top overall seed in the tournament, falling to Auburn 70-64.

A 17-0 run, which transformed an 8-6 lead for Michigan State into a 23-8 deficit, was too much to overcome. The Spartans missed 10 straight shots.

“Boy, that stretch we had at the beginning,” Izzo said, shaking his head. “We had shot after shot after shot. They just didn’t go in. That happens.”

With a roster that Izzo described as one of his favorites of a three-decade career, if not the most talented, Michigan State made only 24 of 64 shots (34.4%) from the field, including 7 of 23 from 3-point range.

There was no shortage of effort from the Spartans.

Just not enough baskets.

“I’m not sure I’ve every been prouder of a team,” Izzo said. “These guys gave me everything they had. They should take a week off. There’s nothing left in them.”

The 70-year-old Izzo had been 10-0 against Southeastern Conference teams in the NCAA Tournament. But that perfect mark came to an end in Atlanta, sending the Tigers to the Final Four and ending Michigan State’s season.

After running away with the Big Ten championship, the Spartans came up one win shy of Izzo’s ninth Final Four appearance.

“I felt going in, we…

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Publish date : 2025-03-31 15:58:00

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