Sunday’s second round NCAA Tournament matchup between Michigan State and New Mexico will be just the third meeting all-time between the two schools, with the last meeting being 39 years ago. Despite that, there will be nothing new about MSU’s Tom Izzo and UNM’s Richard Pitino coming together.

“I know Richard,” Izzo said Saturday evening. “I know his style a little bit. He's done an incredible job. I thought personally that, like a lot of coaches, he got a bad deal at Minnesota because he had done some good things there.

“But he landed on his feet (at New Mexico). He took advantage of it and did something I didn't do; he's beaten USC and UCLA, and that's something we didn't do. I know how good his team is.”

Pitino respects Izzo.

“I think people have got to realize I coached against Izzo for eight years,” Pitino said. “I don't win a lot, but I have gone against him many times. So I have, obviously, a high level of respect. Who does not?”

Izzo and Pitino have already faced off 12 times, all of which were during Pitino’s eight seasons as the head coach of Minnesota. Michigan State and Izzo won nine of those games, with one being in the 2019 NCAA Tournament. Just like the game on Sunday will be, Izzo’s team was the two seed and Pitino’s was a 10.

“I understand what we're about to walk into, because I've seen it,” Pitino said about the Spartans. “I've seen it in the Breslin Center. I've seen it in the Big Ten Tournament. I saw it in the NCAA Tournament one year we played them. So I know the task at hand.

“Our players may not know it, but they'll feel it, certainly, to start the game. But if you're going to beat them, it's going to have to be a terrific effort.”

Both coaches were very complimentary of one another Saturday, with Izzo reiterating that he believes Minnesota — who just fired Pitino’s replacement, Ben Johnson — never should have moved on from him.

“I thought he did a hell of a job there,” Izzo said about Pitino’s time in Minneapolis. “It was a tough situation he was in. I did stick up for him … I always said if you don't stick up for coaches, who's going to? So I looked at that as one of my jobs, especially if it was coaches I respect and were doing it the right way, and he did.”

Pitino feels the same way towards Izzo.

“He's one of the absolute legends and icons in this game, and he's a great person, and he's always been so very gracious to everybody, not just myself,” Pitino said of Izzo.

While the rosters are completely different from the last time the two teams met, there certainly will still be familiarity for the two co aches.