Members of the Izzone hold up a sign wishing men’s basketball head coach Tom Izzo a happy 53rd birthday during Wednesday’s game against the Fighting Illini. At the end of game, members of the Izzone sang “Happy Birthday” to Izzo.
It was a big game against a hard-nosed opponent for the MSU men’s basketball team Wednesday night, as the Spartans rolled to a 51-41 victory against Illinois.
But just because they had cheering and music-making to do didn’t mean the Izzone and Spartan Brass couldn’t take time to sing head coach Tom Izzo “Happy Birthday” during a timeout.
Izzo, the 13-year Spartans leader, turned 53 Wednesday — yet said he feels more like 40.
“Coaching has kept me young, believe it or not,” Izzo said.
Last year, Izzo lost on his birthday to — ironically enough — the Fighting Illini. After getting revenge this year, he is now 5-1.
However, senior guard Drew Neitzel said he wished he could have played better for Izzo on his special day.
“I wish we could have scored double his age,” Neitzel said with a smile.
“It was an ugly game, but we’ll take the win.”
19-2 with a lot to do
When asked about the milestone of achieving the best 21-game start in Spartans basketball history, junior guard Travis Walton put it into perspective for everyone to understand.
“You’ve gotta be happy for the record but at the same time we’ve got bigger things,” he said. “That milestone ain’t gonna get you rings. That’s just a little footprint in this program.”
Senior center Drew Naymick said he agreed 100 percent with Walton when he said if they don’t hang banners for it, then it’s not something to get overly excited about.
There’s too much more to prove and even more to accomplish.
“This is just another step to get to a Big Ten title,” Naymick said. “There’s where we want to be.”
Neity Neit, Illinois
With two points 24 minutes into the game, Neitzel finally found three things: The ability to cut harder around screens, slips in the defense and most importantly — the bottom of the basket.
He scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half, many of which came during a two-minute, 9-0 Neitzel run. The Spartans found themselves down four before Neitzel put them up five thanks to solid free-throw shooting, jump shots and a right-handed floater from the baseline.
“I had to work for all my points,” Neitzel said. “We knew that’s how it is when you play Illinois.”
Sophomore forward Raymar Morgan said Neitzel is phenomenal at firing the team up in its five-man huddles throughout the game.
“It’s huge — whenever Drew can score and get us going like that, it gets the Izzone into it,” he said. “He does a great job at getting people pumped up and ready to go.”
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