Tom Izzo had plenty to say after Michigan State’s 3-0 start got a major boost Tuesday night in Chicago, where the Spartans knocked off No. 2 Duke in the Champions Classic at the United Center.
For Izzo, the win came with praise for Duke, respect for Jon Scheyer, and a healthy dose of satisfaction after a program that has given Michigan State trouble for years finally got turned back. He also made sure to tip his cap to Michigan State’s football team after its recent win over Michigan.
Izzo was quick to compliment Duke’s talent and the way Scheyer has handled the pressure of following one of the game’s all-time greats.
“I made a lot of comments that I absolutely love Duke’s team. I still love them. They missed a lot of shots early that I thought were wide-open shots for them.”
“It’s a very talented and very good team… Some of it was us, some of it was them tonight. Don’t bet against them.”
“You guys don’t realize how hard it is to do what he’s done, taking over for arguably the best coach that ever coached the game. That’s not easy, and I think Jon’s done it with class.”
“It was two good teams. We found a way to get ahead early and kept the momentum, and I think that’s why we won the game.”
The Duke matchup also brought out Izzo’s frustration with how often the Blue Devils have had Michigan State’s number.
“As far as beating Duke, I’m apologizing to our fans, to my wife, to my kids, because they’ve beaten us like a drum… All those people are saying that, so it pisses me off.”
“They deserve what they’ve gotten against us, but we haven’t taken a back seat to anybody either. And I don’t plan on taking a back seat in the near future or in the far future, to be honest with you.”
Izzo said the Spartans may have played their best basketball of the young season, though he was careful not to overstate anything with only three games in the books.
“I really believe that we played our best basketball of the year. But we’re three games into the year, so big deal.”
He pointed to the familiar formula that has defined his teams for years, saying Michigan State’s edge came from doing the basics well early.
“It just goes to show our defense, what we’ve been talking about for 20 years: Defend, rebound and run. If you defend, you usually rebound better. The first half, we defended better, we rebounded better, we ran better, and we got some easy buckets.”
“We can put up with mistakes early in the year, not effort-related [ones].”
Izzo also singled out Jordan Scott, even though the stat line wasn’t eye-popping.
“That was about as good a game as you could have for a guy that went 2-for-7, 1-for-4 from three… And yet he probably changed the whole game himself with his defense, with his rebounding, with his effort-related stats.”
“I’m sure Grant Hill isn’t happy, since [Scott] came from his high school.”
Jeremy Fears drew praise as well, with Izzo saying he looked more like himself against Duke.
“You’re given a rank; you have a responsibility to live up to that ranking. I thought he was OK in the first couple games.
I didn’t think he was Jeremy-like. And tonight I thought he played hard.”
“Jeremy missed five free throws. He didn’t miss that many in half a year last year.”
Cam Ward earned a mention for his free-throw shooting and a key stretch before halftime.
“Cam’s another one that got challenged last week… Maybe one of the unsung heroes was the fact that he went 4-for-4 from the free-throw line. And that stretch he had before halftime was big for us.”
Izzo also had high praise for Jasiah, calling him both a gamer and a worker.
“Jasiah is a gamer, but he’s a practice player, too… You don’t know [the intensity level] when you’re a freshman till you play in games like this… He’s going to be a hell of a player. Mark my words.”
And when the conversation turned to the football team’s win over Michigan, Izzo made it clear he wasn’t putting the two victories in the same category.
“If you think that this win over Duke is as big as our football team’s over Michigan, you’re [clueless]… I’m going to add on to what Pat Fitzgerald did. I’m not going to try to surpass that.”
“This is a good rivalry, but this is a love affair rivalry. That’s a Hatfield and McCoy rivalry. So there’s a big difference in rivalries.”
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