After a seven-game winning streak, Michigan State basketball has now lost two gamse in a row. The Spartans fell to No. 3 Purdue, 64-63, in a down to the wire affair on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo was frustrated after the game, and he echoed that same sentiment to the media. Spartans Illustrated was inside the Breslin Center film room for Izzo’s media availability on Tuesday afternoon.
“It was just a shame because we played good enough, hard enough to win,” Izzo said to the media. “If we would’ve started out better, we would’ve found a way to win it.”
Purdue was up 24-11 with just over five minutes to play in the first half. Once down by 13 points, MSU began its comeback.
“You can’t start out like we started out and expect to beat good people,” Izzo said. “The start just got us in a hole, both mentally and physically.”
One of the bright spots was the sold-out Breslin Center crowd. Izzo spoke highly of the energy in the arena.
“The crowd was the best it was in five years, and it’s always been pretty good, but I thought that it was just at an elite level,” Izzo said.
Malik Hall’s glimmer of hope
A big story leading up to the game was the health of senior forward Malik Hall. He was seen wearing a boot on Saturday on junior guard A.J. Hoggard’s Instagram story. It was later confirmed that Hall aggravated the stress reaction injury in his left foot in Friday’s game at Illinois.
Hall was expected to be out for “a long while," but Izzo provided good news on Tuesday.
“There is light at the end of the tunnel, which we thought the tunnel was closed,” Izzo said regarding Hall’s injury. “The specialist has come up with something that seems to think it’s healing fine. He maybe tweaked (his foot) like (sophomore guard) Jaden Akins did (earlier this season).”
While there is no timetable for Hall's return, Izzo is hopeful that he will be able to play at some point this season.
“It’s a more positive sign than it was,” Izzo said. “I do believe that he has a chance to play. Is it in a week? I doubt it. Is it in two weeks? Maybe. Is it in three weeks? Possibly.”
Izzo still doesn’t have definitive answers regarding the injury, however.
“At least the door is open,” Izzo continues. “The door was locked two days ago. What that means? I don’t know.”
MSU faces another pivotal conference clash
MSU’s next game is on Thursday against No. 23 Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights are one game behind Purdue in the Big Ten standings.
“It’s going to be another rock fight,” Izzo said.
He also went on to say that Rutgers is “tougher than nails.” The Scarlet Knights are the team responsible for handing Purdue its only loss of the season so far.
“They might be the toughest team in the league,” Izzo said. “Don’t get Rutgers confused with five years ago.”
Rutgers is loaded with veterans. The Scarlet Knights have six juniors, three seniors and one fifth-year player. Before the 2019-2020 season, the programs didn’t have a winning season since 2005-2006.
“Those guys that took the beatings are now juniors and seniors,” Izzo said regarding Rutgers’ veterans and its past woes.
One of those juniors is 6-foot-11, 240-pound center Clifford Omoruyi. He averages a double-double with 13.2 points and 10.1 rebounds per game.
Izzo said that Omoruyi is a “beast” and the “most athletic guy in the league.”
The game against Rutgers will tip off at 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday at the Breslin Center. It will air on FS1.
