Michigan State finds itself in familiar situation after Michigan loss

EAST LANSING — One month into 2026, and one month from March Madness, Michigan State basketball finds itself in a familiar situation.

February Fluctuation.

Coming off last week’s frustrating home loss to No. 2 Michigan, the No. 10 Spartans head to Minnesota on Wednesday, Feb. 4 (7 p.m., Big Ten Network), with one thing in mind.

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“Just moving on,” junior Coen Carr said after practice Monday. “Just knowing what we did wrong and trying to fix it and then just looking ahead to the next game. There’s still a lot more games to be played, still a long season ahead.”

The Spartans (19-3, 9-2 Big Ten) will try and do that against the Gophers (10-12, 3-8) at Williams Arena in Minneapolis.

Shake it off

Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo reacts to a play against Michigan during the second half at Breslin Center in East Lansing on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026.

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Late January and early February always has been a grueling period of the season for Tom Izzo’s program, but also one that defines many of his championship teams.

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During Izzo’s last Final Four run, in 2019, MSU lost three straight in the final week of January and first week of February before ripping off a 7-1 finish for the Big Ten regular-season title. In their 2020 league championship run, the Spartans suffered a Jan. 23 loss at Indiana and back-to-back losses to Penn State and at Michigan to put their title hopes in jeopardy. But Cassius Winston and Xavier Tillman willed MSU to a 6-1 close to earn a share of a third straight Big Ten crown.

Then last season, the Spartans dropped three of four to open February – back-to-back games at USC and UCLA and a home loss to Indiana, with a comeback home win over Oregon sandwiched between. MSU went on to win its final seven games to finish 17-3 and win the Big Ten by three games.

That stretch last season immediately came to mind for Izzo following Friday’s 83-71 loss to the…

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Publish date : 2026-02-04 10:04:00

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