Michigan State basketball working to carry 2025 mindset into new year

EAST LANSING — The “easy” part of Tom Izzo’s schedules are never easy. In a masochistic way, the coach loves to challenge himself and Michigan State basketball every year, then laments the slate he created before Big Ten play begins in earnest.

Of course, when that nonconference schedule includes three marquee wins and a 12-1 record, it’s a lot harder for Izzo to gripe through his smile.

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“I hate to admit it, but every coach puts down probably its schedule and he looks at the best-case scenario and the worst-case scenario,” Izzo said after beating Cornell, 114-97, on Monday, Dec. 29. “My best-case scenario probably would’ve been 11-2. My worst-case scenario would’ve probably been 9-4, 10-3. I’m really excited on where we are, and I think we’ve played good enough against some good teams. …

“I love my guys. I don’t love my team yet. I told you what we were – I think we’re a good team. I’m trying to be a great team, and then you move in to the next level, and that’s kind of where we are. We’re probably a pretty damn good team right now.”

Michigan State’s head coach Tom Izzo yells at a referee during the first half against Cornell on Monday, Dec. 29, 2025, at the Breslin Center in East Lansing.

RELATED: Couch: 3 quick takes on Michigan State basketball’s 114-97 win over Cornell

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The Big Ten run – offering the chance to repeat as champions and deliver Izzo a record-setting 12th regular-season league title – resumes Friday night (9 p.m., Peacock) when No. 9 MSU heads to red-hot No. 13 Nebraska (13-0).

“This preseason, we’ve had a lot of tough games, we’ve played against a lot of good teams,” senior captain Jaxon Kohler said Monday. “In some of those games, we didn’t play as well as we should have, to get that out of the way. We’d either have a great first half or we had a great second half, and the other was not as good. And that’s something we’re still trying to get through our heads, to have a great full…

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Publish date : 2026-01-01 11:39:00

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