Tom Izzo thinks Michigan State 'earned everything' regarding No. 4 seed
Michigan State basketball enters postseason play on Friday after winning three of its last four regular season games.
Head coach Tom Izzo had his weekly press conference on Monday ahead of the Big Ten Tournament this weekend in Chicago.
MSU earned a double-bye in the Big Ten Tournament after the Spartans beat Ohio State on Saturday, 84-78. The Spartans also needed help in the Sunday slate of games and received it in the form of Penn State’s buzzer-beating win over Maryland, Purdue’s win over Illinois and Nebraska’s upset victory at Iowa. With those results, MSU sealed the No. 4 seed in the Big Ten Tournament.
If Rutgers had beaten Northwestern, the Spartans would have moved all the way up to the No. 3 seed after starting Sunday with the No. 7 seed.
“I think we earned everything,” Izzo said to the media about earning the No. 4 seed. “I still think we had the toughest schedule and I think we did our job. I thought we earned everything we got.”
Only the top-four seeds in the Big Ten Tournament earn a double-bye and don’t play until Friday. As mentioned, MSU needed a number of different results on Sunday to earn one of those top-four seeds. It was pretty improbable that it happened, and even Izzo couldn't believe how it transpired.
“I’ve been saying all year that the league is crazy,” Izzo said about the Big Ten. “It proved to be crazier than I thought it was. I just couldn’t believe some of the games and some of the way some of the games went yesterday.”
Despite those scenarios playing out and MSU not having control over the games on Sunday, Izzo did not apologize for his team’s placement in the conference tournament.
“A couple of games that broke our way to get the double-bye, as I said don’t apologize because some things went against us, too, throughout the year,” Izzo said. “I feel very comfortable with where we are.”
Offense has not been a problem in the last few games for the Spartans. MSU has scored at least 80 points in each of its last four games.
Izzo highlighted a number of individual shooting statistics saying that they are “world class offensive stats” and “something that we’ve never seen here” before.
However, MSU’s defense has been suffering as a result. The Spartans gave up 112 points to Iowa and 78 points to Ohio State recently. Iowa shot over 50% against MSU. The Buckeyes shot 48% from the field against the Spartans.
“The problem is our defensive stats have gone down,” Izzo said. “We have been a good defensive team. We’re just trying to get back to that defensive philosophy.”
Izzo noted that MSU is “gonna try and get as balanced” as it can between offense and defense. Izzo stressed defense and rebounding leading up to its next game on Friday.
MSU will open Big Ten Tournament play on Friday at 2:30 p.m. Eastern Time on Big Ten Network against either Iowa, Ohio State or Wisconsin. All Big Ten Tournament games will be played at the United Center in Chicago. The last time the Big Ten Tournament was in Chicago (2019), the Spartans won the title.
“Chicago has been pretty good to us and pretty good to our alums and we have a lot of alums there, so it makes it a good place to go,” Izzo said about the Windy City.
The Big Ten Tournament marks the beginning of the postseason for the Spartans. It is win or go home from here on out.
“This team should be wired for that,” Izzo said about his team entering postseason play. “They faced every obstacle you could face and then some that I didn’t think you could face. They’ve been battle-tested. They’ve played a good schedule. They’ve been under adversity. They’ve gone through tragedies … If they get themselves ready to go mentally, I think physically, we’ll be fine. I still think this team is good enough to make a run.”