Tom Izzo proud of Michigan State’s effort in Big Ten Tournament: ‘I realized that this team was all in’

Tom Izzo wasn’t always pleased with his team during the regular season, but his long-term confidence in them rarely wavered. Izzo made that clear after the Michigan State’s 67-62 loss to Purdue in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals on Friday.

“In all honesty, I’ve felt good about this team,” Izzo said. “I think at some of my press conferences, I didn’t like some of the things we did, but I felt like the potential to be where it was never changed for me all year long. That’s what was probably frustrating to the media and the fans.”

Michigan State pushed its NCAA Tournament hopes to uncomfortable limits at the end of the regular season, but the Spartans reinforced Izzo’s belief in them after a win over Minnesota and a hard-fought loss to Purdue in consecutive days.

“I feel better about a lot of things,” Izzo said. “I really enjoyed the way we were rotating so many guys in there because of foul trouble and every guy answered the bell.”

“I thought our guys learned a lot today (against Purdue). The timeouts were great. There was more focus. AJ (Hoggard) did a hell of a job.”

Izzo saw a more mentally-tough version of his team during their two-game stay at the Big Ten Tournament. Michigan State faced halftime deficits in both contests, but fought back to win one and barely lose the other.

Izzo felt like every one of his players bought into the task at hand. They were more intense, energetic and focused than they were to close the regular season. That went a long way for Izzo’s confidence in his team.

“This weekend, the film sessions, the meetings, I realized that this team was all-in,” Izzo said. “Multiple times during the (Purdue) game we could have folded because there were some adverse things that happened. We were playing without some guys. There were some bizarre things that happened. And we just kept fighting.”

Izzo was proud of Michigan State’s effort against a talented, well-coached Purdue team, despite the Spartans’ poor shooting performance. Michigan State shot 39.3 percent from the floor (22.2 percent from three) against Purdue.

“You know what, that last minute and a half, we believed we were going to win the game in the huddle,” Izzo said. “I believed with every eye I watched, including Book (Xavier Booker) and Coen (Carr), my two freshmen. That is a very positive sign, and that is a very good feeling. So I’m going to take that home and see what that brings.”

Now that his players got a feel for a win-or-go-home situation, Izzo wants them to start shooting better. For Izzo, Michigan State’s streaky shooting might’ve been the difference against Purdue. It could also lower the Spartans’ NCAA Tournament ceiling if it continues.

“I’m going to say I feel better about my team, and yet we’ve got to figure out a way to make some big plays,” Izzo said. “We made free throws down the stretch and big plays. We’ve got to get to the line a little bit more. For some reason there weren’t a lot of fouls called our way, so we didn’t get to the line much. That’s probably my fault.”

Michigan State has proven that it can compete with the top teams in the country without shooting the ball particularly well. But Izzo doesn’t want to just compete against those teams; he wants to beat them. If the Spartans can score to their potential, Izzo likes their chances against almost anybody.

“We’ve now played Arizona,” Izzo said. “We’ve played Tennessee, we’ve played Purdue twice. Those are potentially all No. 1 seeds. We’ve played Illinois and Baylor and Duke. So we’ve been battle-tested.

“We’ve had to rise up from some adversity and some tough times. I think that’s a key in a team making a run – can it handle that, and can it work itself out of it? That’s kind of the job of this week.”

Michigan State has plenty of veteran experience – Izzo started four seniors and a junior for much of the season. His sophomores are coming along. The Spartans enjoyed a Sweet 16 run just last year. They were bought-in this weekend. All of that excites Izzo with the NCAA Tournament less than a week away.

Now it’s about making the necessary adjustments to maximize his team’s potential.

“Hopefully our juniors and seniors will realize that we can play with anybody,” Izzo said. “We’ve shown that all year long. The problem is we haven’t made the plays down the stretch. We’ve got to do a better job of that, and a lot of that falls on me. This week I’m going to try to do a better job of it, and we’ll see if we can make one of those patented Michigan State runs.”

Junfu Han- USA TODAY Sports

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