While members of the media and fans often criticize the junior center for everything from his athletic ability to his inconsistency on the floor, Izzo always has seen the light at the end of the tunnel.

“Most people take my comments as hard or insulting, but they’re usually just the opposite,” Izzo said at his weekly news conference. “If I believe a guy has more to give, my way of getting on him is saying, ‘Son, you have a lot more to give.’ That’s the deal with ‘G.’ I do think he has a lot of skills.”

Izzo said Suton’s laid-back style sometimes translates to his play, but he’s seen him play with more hunger as of late. Suton had 14 points and nine rebounds against Pittsburgh and leads the team with eight double-doubles this season.

“Once in a while, you really see some focus,” Izzo said.

“But he does have a little more laid-back approach to things. Him and I are water and oil in that respect. Right now, he’s getting hungrier to be a real good player rather than just good.”

Carrying the load

All season, Izzo has said that for his team to succeed, certain players need to step up and perform well.

As the NCAA Tournament field continues to narrow, he said it’s imperative now that three or four players consistently play well, instead of just a couple.

“You can have some role players but you need more than one or two,” he said.

Izzo said the Spartans always need senior guard Drew Neitzel and sophomore forward Raymar Morgan to play well, but now more pressure rests on the shoulders of Suton and freshman guard Kalin Lucas.

“I said for a month we’ve been playing better basketball,” Izzo said.

“Practices have been better, even when we had some losses at the end of the year. Against better teams, you have to have more numbers of players to play well if you want to advance.”

Upset special

Heading into the Pittsburgh game, the Spartans and Panthers matched up fairly equally, but many outsiders gave Pitt the advantage in the game, deeming the Spartans an underdog.

Now as the Spartans face Memphis, the No. 1 team in the country for much of the season, many see MSU with the possibility for another upset.

“I didn’t really talk a lot about it when they were picking against us,” Izzo said. “I think our program’s to the point where I don’t have to make it out to be like it’s the biggest upset of the year. We’ve been humbled enough this year. I’m not worried about us reading something or seeing on TV that we’re picked to beat Memphis. That’s the advantage to going through the kind of year that we went through.”