Tom Izzo is known to wear his emotions on his sleeve. He is not afraid to yell, hug and cry on the sidelines. Tuesday was no different in that respect, but it meant something more than a basketball game.
Michigan State returned to the Breslin Center for the first time since the tragic on-campus shooting last Monday. The Spartans were victorious over No. 17 Indiana, 80-65.
There were a number of pregame festivities to honor the victims of the shooting. Those festivities included a moment of silence which was only broken with the MSU band playing the alma mater, “MSU Shadows.”
“I wish I could’ve ran up to that top row and thanked the people that were there,” Izzo said to the media in the postgame press conference when asked about what was going through his mind while the band was playing the alma mater. “I just looked around. That’s all I did was look around. This was one of those moments where I just said, ‘Boy, I’m a lucky guy.’ I was saying to myself ‘I hope we can come through for you.’”
The Hoosiers all wore warm up shirts that had both the IU logo and the Spartan logo. The black long-sleeved shirts spelled out “Spartan Strong” on the front. Izzo thanked Indiana head coach Mike Woodson and the players for participating in the pregame tributes.
“I’d like to thank Mike Woodson and Indiana,” Izzo said. “It was classy on his part.”
As for the game itself, the Spartans started off slow, a common theme this season. Indiana’s biggest lead was 22-13 at the 8:19 mark in the first half.
“I thought it was one of the poorest performances for 13 minutes,” Izzo said. “It just seemed like offensively we didn’t move the ball, we didn’t do much.
Led by senior guard Tyson Walker’s four 3-pointers in the first half, the Spartans marched back and ended the opening 20 minutes on a 22-7 run after trailing by nine points.
“Our defense got better, our rebounding got better, and our ball movement got better,” Izzo said.
Freshman center Jaxon Kohler had the crowd fired up after he showed hustle and skill late in the first half. Kohler checked back into the game at the 4:06 mark. He scored four points and grabbed three rebounds in that stretch — two of which were on the offensive glass — until he was subbed out with 36 seconds to go to a round of applause from the fans in attendance.
“He’s got some Zach Randolph in him,” Izzo said about Kohler’s game. “He’s got all those moves and (he can) put people in the blender. I think he made some great plays.”
Junior center Mady Sissoko also had a stretch where he dove for a loose ball, tipped a pass out of bounds in transition and blocked IU freshman forward Malik Reneau so hard that the ball hit IU freshman forward Kaleb Banks in the face and knocked him down. Not all of those plays showed up in the box score, but it got the crowd on their feet and chanting Mady’s name.
Sissoko also had a rebound where he aggressively grabbed the ball and knocked down graduate forward Joey Hauser accidentally. Hauser was a little slow to get up, but ended up being OK.
“I thought that Mady’s blocks and his rebound where he just absolutely annihilated Joey (Hauser), I mean it was awesome,” Izzo said jokingly about Sissoko. “I think Joey will have a little black eye. That’ll be pretty cool.”
Kohler, Sissoko and many others were forced to step up with freshman center Carson Cooper out with a low ankle sprain, according to Izzo.
“I think for the first time you saw a decent rotation,” Izzo said. “I think if we have a substitution pattern, we can keep some energy.”
The Spartans ended the game with 19 free throw shots. They made the most out of those 19 free throws, as they made 18 of them.
“And then we started driving the ball,” Izzo said. “When you start driving the ball, what happens? You get fouled.”
Indiana forward Trayce Jackson-Davis scored 31 points in the last meeting between IU and MSU. Izzo and the MSU coaching staff decided to throw some different defensive looks at Jackson-Davis throughout the game, including double-teaming him when he had the ball down low. Jackson-Davis was held to 19 points on Tuesday night.
“I thought my staff did a hell of a job,” Izzo said. “We threw a lot of different things at Trayce.”
Izzo noted that the final 26 minutes of the game, after going down 22-13, was the best his team has played all season.
“I’d say that we earned the win,” Izzo said. “I’d say there was no luck.”
The official attendance at the Breslin Center on Tuesday night was 14,797. Izzo complimented the fans after the game.
“I just think everybody did a hell of a job, and most of all, the fans, the students and the community,” Izzo said. “The fans were unbelievable.”
Izzo also made it known that this game was bigger than just basketball. It was a moment in which people returned to a sense of normalcy, even for just a brief moment.
“Today was a day that I think people will remember and unfortunately, last Monday was a day they’ll remember,” Izzo said. “I hope this one brought a little bit of a smile to some people’s face.
“Here’s one two-hour period where maybe they forgot about all the things that they’ve had to deal with, and they get a chance to enjoy, and that’s what sports sometimes can do. It doesn’t take away all the pain, but it’s like a little aspirin.”
Izzo complimented and praised the players for their commitment throughout the past number of days.
“I hope somehow we appreciate what the players did,” Izzo said. “Our players still had to go to class … had to come here at practice. They felt some of the weight.”
MSU was playing for more than themselves on Tuesday. The Spartans were playing and representing a community in disrepair that is trying to build themselves back up. The game was symbolic as MSU faced a setback after going down 22-13, but the comeback outweighed it.
“I did feel like we were playing for our community, for our alums,” Izzo said. “I always feel that way, but this took on a whole new meaning of it. And then we were playing for three people that aren’t with us anymore and five that are fighting for their lives. That’s good if it’s from your heart, but hard when it’s on your shoulders.”
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