No. 4 Michigan State will host No. 9 Tennessee on Sunday afternoon (3:30 p.m. Eastern Time) at the Breslin Center for a charity exhibition game to assist in relief efforts for the Maui wildfires in August.

Ahead of the matchup, MSU head coach Tom Izzo met with the media to discuss what he expects from his team going into Sunday's game, while sharing some of his thoughts on the team's first exhibition win against Hillsdale, and more.

Izzo knows his team will be facing a challenge against the No. 9 team in the country.

The Spartans played the Volunteers last season in a closed scrimmage. Izzo pointed to the Volunteers' depth and overall talent, and noted that if the Spartans play like they did in their opening exhibition game against an overmatched Hillsdale team, the team would be in for a long day in this one.

"Not to be one of those coaches who is just trying to motivate his team, but if we played like we did (against Hillsdale) we'll get our butts kicked," Izzo said. "This team is the deepest, best team I've seen in a while. They are like 12 deep. We played them last year, so we know about them. They are very well-coached, but they've got a lot back and they're a physical team, so we have to rebound better. I don't know what happened there (against Hillsdale in terms of rebounding)."

Although Izzo would like to see more from his team on Sunday, he did like what he saw from the Spartans in the first half against the Chargers in terms of the ball movement and overall energy, but knows it will take a full 40-minute effort to get what they want to get done against the Volunteers.

"I didn't love how hard we played on the film," Izzo said about the Hillsdale game. "That first half was off the charts. The ball movement was really good. The second half, I think we started playing the score a little bit, which is human. This (Tennessee) team we're playing is definitely a top-five team."

Being an exhibition game and so early in the season, Izzo said there will be more to Sunday than just trying to win the game. However, Izzo said with this being a game open to the public with a TV audience, it will naturally set in for both teams to get caught up in winning the exhibition due to the competitive nature of each.

Izzo has had many discussions with Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes about Sunday's scrimmage.

"Rick (Barnes) and I talked (about this) — it's not just about trying to win," Izzo said. "If it was closed, definitely think we would do some other things, both of us. But being open, as the game goes on, both teams are going to want to win. But, I have to get some things done, too. I have to get some guys a chance. Our freshmen (against Hillsdale) were dead tired after their minutes. And I told them the day before and said, 'This is the way it's going to be.' Some of them believed me and some of them didn't. I think the second game, they'll be better as far as not being as hyped up. The crowd will be bigger and other things will be bigger."

As far as the upperclassmen go, Izzo said he thought some of them lost focus in the second half in the team's first exhibition game. So, while the competition of the game will be important, Izzo said he will continue to work on getting all of the rotations down to prepare for the regular season.

"I don't think I'm going to tinker a lot, I think I'm going to try to get the rotation down so we can get better," Izzo mentioned. "I have to figure it out and they (the players) have to figure it out. Those things will be determined by them. I did say to them, 'I don't care what you're ranked, I don't care what you did last year.' I haven't won enough games for the way this program is the last couple of years. So, I'm not worried about anybody's feelings. I'm worried about production."

Izzo also answered a question about the matchup between his guards against the Volunteers' back-court, which is set to be an intriguing one, but said the challenge with Tennessee is their talent and pieces at all positions, a team that has returned numerous players and added via the transfer portal as well.

"They are worthy of everything they're ranked," Izzo said about the Volunteers. "The back-court is going to be good, the front-court is going to be good and their wings are going to be good. Our biggest problem is they have so many different pieces, is figuring out who is going to start, how much they are going to play and at what positions."

Against Hillsdale, the team was able to get some balanced production across the board from veteran guards Tyson Walker and Jaden Akins, who scored 13 and 10 points, respectively, in about half a game's worth of action.

Along with that, it was center Carson Cooper and freshman forward Coen Carr who stepped up and were the most efficient players on the night for the Spartans shooting the ball, as those two combined for 25 points on 12-of-15 shooting.

However, the "fan-favorite" moment of the night was when Izzo's son, Steven Izzo, knocked down a pair of free throws that sent the Breslin Center crowd and the MSU bench into a huge roar late in the game.

When the camera panned to Izzo during the moment, he was seen smiling, and when asked about the moment, he said it was touching to see the crowd and players' reactions.

"I'm allowed back in the house — my wife let me back in the house, I've been out for a few years now," Izzo joked when asked about getting his son in the game. "What it was — A.J. (Hoggard), with four minutes left said, 'Coach, you have to get Nick (Sanders) and Steven (Izzo) in there. And A.J. really fueled a lot of that fire. I'm a little mad at A.J. because he's the one telling him to shoot as soon as you get it. That first shot he took ruined our three-point percentage and I almost benched him because of it. But it was fun to see him have some fun, but it was fun to see the fans, what they thought (of the moment), and the players, what they thought. And I think that's the cool thing about it being part of a team. That meant a lot to me."

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