“Well, another Monday, and the conference doesn’t seem to be getting any easier,” Izzo said.

Following the top three teams at 5-2, No. 25 Wisconsin sits at 5-3 while Illinois and Purdue boast 4-3 conference records. That doesn’t include Indiana, which, despite having a 4-4 Big Ten record, still is ranked No. 16 in the country.

With six teams within one game of one another at the top, and teams at the bottom of the Big Ten also playing well at times, Izzo said there’s no chance for a break the rest of the conference season.
“When you look at the schedule down the road, it’s hard to figure out any games you can relax just a little bit even,” Izzo said.
“It seems like everybody is close enough; everyone has something to play for.”

Winning the conference will come down to who can deal with injuries, who can handle matchup problems the best and who runs into teams at the right time, Izzo said.

As he has said all season, he still believes Ohio State is “heads above the rest of us” and that the conference champion will have at least four or five losses.

But there’s no guarantees in what Izzo believes to be the best conference in the country and the best the Big Ten has been since he came to East Lansing.

“The league is the best top-to-bottom. I don’t think anybody wants to go anywhere,” Izzo said. “When you looked at it, to see who you played once or twice seemed to matter. Not that it doesn’t seem to matter.”

400?
When Izzo and the Spartans take the floor against Minnesota on Wednesday (8:30 p.m., Big Ten Network) the 17-year coach will look for his 400th career win as a head coach.

Izzo said win No. 400 “means nothing to me” because of the number of coaches who have so many more, led by Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski with 916.

However, Izzo said he is proud of reaching the milestone because of the way he and his teams reached the mark.

“I think for the most part, we did it playing a demanding schedule,” Izzo said. “It means there’s some consistency in winning. But 20-some coaches have 500 or more wins, and that kind of dwarfs it.”

Hot shots
At almost the midway point of the conference season, MSU finds itself in an unusual spot.

The Spartans lead the Big Ten in field goal percentage (50.9 percent) and 3-point percentage (44.8 percent) in conference games. Last season, MSU finished last in field goal percentage and ninth in 3-point shooting.

The addition of senior guard and shooter Brandon Wood has helped, but Izzo said it’s more about the types of shots the Spartans are taking and their unselfishness.

“I think we’re getting a few more baskets inside, which always helps your percentage” Izzo said. “I think the 3’s we are shooting are inside-out shots — that makes you a better shooting team. All the things you harp on, this team, for some reason, is doing those things.”