Aidan Champion, Michigan State Spartans On SI
EAST LANSING, Mich. — No. 8 Michigan State earned its seventh-straight win to close out the regular season on Sunday, dismantling No. 17 Michigan, 79-62.
The Spartans dominated the Wolverines in the first half before letting their foot off the gas a bit in the second. Nonetheless, they finished down the stretch and were able to vanquish the visitors, completing the season sweep over their rivals.
Michigan State coach Tom Izzo addressed the media after the game, speaking on the win, the late scuffle, the Big Ten title and more.
You can watch below:
Below is a partial transcript from Izzo’s opening statement:
Izzo: “As you get older, you don’t know when you’ll get another opportunity to enjoy something. But so many people I want to thank. I just think our marketing people are brilliant. Our AD, our president. And everybody did their job, and our fans and former players — that’s why I never wanted to leave this place. And I know every place has good things and bad things. We’ve had our share of bad things. But I just love the direction we’re headed. I’m glad I stuck around to hopefully be part of this resurgence. And not for the athletics, for the program, I’m just talking about for all of us. So, the game was — I thought we played awfully well first half. We really did, shot it better, didn’t turn the ball over, two turnovers. They had a bunch of them. The second half, we started out good, we get that that 25-point lead, and then, we were poor, and they were good. Give them credit, they were good. But we turned the ball over like I haven’t seen. I mean, we’re spin dribbling, we did some crazy things. And so, I think it’ll be a good teaching point in the film session that you can’t have those leads; you get in the tournament when it’s one-and-done, and those things cost you. So, hopefully, we’ll learn from it.”
Michigan State will be the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten Tournament and will wait until Friday to play in the quarterfinals.
Those careers aren’t finished, of course, as Michigan State will head to Indianapolis for the Big Ten Tournament. The Spartans will have the No. 1 seed and get a double bye before playing in Friday’s quarterfinals.
Michigan State concludes the regular season 26-5 with a 17-3 record in conference.
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