The roller-coaster ride is over. The up-and-down 2022-2023 season for the Michigan State men’s basketball team came to an end on Thursday night when the Spartans were defeated in overtime of the Sweet 16 matchup with the Kansas State Wildcats by a final score of 98-93.
Michigan State’s 13 turnovers (and the 16 points that Kansas State scored off of those) and defensive lapses ultimately cost the Spartans against the Wildcats on Thursday night. But MSU had its opportunities to win, and trailing by seven points with 4:45 remaining in the second half, and later by four points with just 1:04 to go in regulation, the Spartans once again showed resilience and a willingness to fight, eventually forcing overtime.
Despite the tough loss, Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo was incredibly proud of the way his team battled in the Sweet 16 game. He was also appreciative of how his team fought through adversity – on and especially off the court – all season long and the way it grew over the year.
Because of the way his team stuck together and the connectivity of the team, this is a year that Izzo will never forget.
“It'll go down as one of the great years for me, not a good year,” Izzo said about his 2022-2023 squad. "It'll go down as one of the great years, because we had our issues during the year and watching guys grow at the end and just kind of buy in. That's what happens. When you buy in and you trust the coach and (the) coach trusts the players, some cool things can happen."
As for Thursday night’s game against the Wildcats, Izzo credited KSU for what it was able to do, but noted that his team didn’t play its best basketball, and that the Wildcats were able to make some wild shots throughout the game, which proved to be the difference.
Kansas State is a very good team in its own right, with players like Markquis Nowell and Keyontae Johnson, and made more plays when it counted. Head coach Jerome Tang has his team still dancing as the Wildcats enter the Elite Eight, and deservedly so. But despite the mistakes, Izzo praised his team’s toughness and ability to bounce back.
“(I’ve) been part of a lot of big wins, and I've been part of a lot of tough losses,” Izzo said after the game. “Never been prouder of a team because we didn't have our game tonight … We just kept fighting … We played our butt off.”
For basketball fans, this was a classic NCAA Tournament game. For Michigan State fans, the loss stings. For the Michigan State coaches and players, it probably is downright painful to come that close and fall short to an Elite Eight appearance.
When asked what he said to his team after the heartbreaking loss, Izzo – who is known to wear his emotions on his sleeve – comforted his players the best he could by letting them know that they are loved.
“I told them I was proud as hell of them and I love every one of them,” Izzo said when asked what he told his team in the locker room. “That's what I told them.”
Much like Michigan State’s season as a whole, there were a lot of ups and downs in the game against Kansas State.
There were 16 lead changes and 14 ties in the contest between the Wildcats and the Spartans. At one point late in the second half, KSU put together a 10-0 run to take a 77-70 lead with less than five minutes to play, and seemingly stole all of the momentum as well. Instead, Michigan State came back to force overtime. MSU was unable to finish the job, while Kansas State was able to do so, but there didn’t appear to be any quit in either team.
Throughout the season, Izzo was clear that this was not his most talented team. However, he also said that “talent” isn’t always what wins teams a championship, and he was adamant that his team was connected and had what it took to make a run during March.
While that run fell a little short, the Spartans proved time and again this season – through the non-conference schedule, Big Ten play and NCAA Tournament – that the team can compete with just about any squad in the country. That was on full display during the tournament.
Izzo noted that his team went through a lot, and found a way to stand back up every time it got knocked down.
“There's always blame that can go for everybody, but to fight back like we did over and over, as you say, get off the mat as many times as we did, go through the things we went through, you feel good about them,” Izzo said about dealing with emotions after the game.
There were times this year where fans and pundits didn’t expect Michigan State to make it out of the first weekend of the tournament. Instead, MSU beat two very good opponents in USC and Marquette, and took an incredibly talented Kansas State team to the brink.
Michigan State is one of the absolute best 3-point shooting teams in the country, currently ranking third in the NCAA (39.3%). The Spartans’ 10.9 turnovers per game this season marked the fewest in the Izzo era at MSU. Most importantly, when a lot of people counted MSU out, the team rallied and got Izzo to his 15th Sweet 16 appearance of his career.
MSU should be proud of its accomplishments this season. The head coach certainly is. Additionally, Izzo hopes the program can take something away from the defeat.
“The key is now can you learn from it, and that'll be the challenge,” Izzo said about the loss.
With a top-five 2023 recruiting class coming in next season, and several key contributors expected to return, the future looks bright for the Michigan State basketball program.
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