What Northwestern head coach Chris Collins said about MSU after loss

Over the years, Chris Collins has been one of the most successful coaches in the country when it comes to playing Michigan State basketball in the Breslin Center. His Northwestern Wildcats have had MSU’s number on several occasions this decade, especially in the infamous Boo Buie era. The Spartans held court against their old nemesis on Thursday, taking down the Wildcats 76-66 to improve to 4-1 in Big Ten play.

After the game, Collins was very complimentary of MSU’s program and fans, and you can see what he had to say below:

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“I love coach Izzo. He’s always been so great to me. Being around basketball, he’s known me since I was in high school, they recruited me a little bit, being from Chicago. He’s always been someone I looked up to in this profession.”

“Playing Michigan State, you have to bring poise, a lot of fight. In the times we didn’t bring that, we got obliterated. It is a special place.”

“As much as I love Jeremy Fears Jr., we shouldn’t be fouling Jeremy when he’s shooting 3. I love him, he’s a Chicago kid, but I feel more comfortable when he’s shooting from 3 (than at the stripe).”

“Part of the thing was that Jeremy Fears Jr. was out of the game in the first half for 10, 12 minutes.” On why his team was able to keep up with MSU in the first half.

“We tried to force turnovers, the best we could. If you look at their numbers, that was one of their Achilles’ heels.”

On Jeremy Fears’ ability to draw fouls: “Coach Izzo knows how to manage. It’s hard with Jeremy, he falls a lot. I get it, I was good at that, too. He’s hard to officiate. He’s a veteran guy, a vet point guard. I have a ton of respect for Jeremy Fears.”

“This program (Michigan State) is what is great about college basketball; this fan base is incredible.”

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/northwestern-head-coach-chris-collins-022829368.html

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Publish date : 2026-01-09 02:28:00

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