Sophomore forward Delvon Roe grabs a rebound off the glass. Roe pulled down 17 rebounds in the Spartans’ 90-60 victory over Valparaiso on Sunday afternoon at Breslin Center.
He’s a 15-year head coach with four National Coach of the Year Awards, an unprecedented five Final Fours in 11 years, a national title and more than 300 wins to pad a Hall of Fame résumé.
But one element always has held Tom Izzo from the title of undisputed best coach to ever lead an MSU men’s basketball team.
That might no longer be up for debate.
The Spartans hammered Valparaiso at home Sunday, to the tune of 90-60 at Breslin Center. The win gave Izzo his 340th win, tying legendary coach Jud Heathcote (340-220) for the most career victories in the program. The feat came the same day Heathcote was inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame.
“I swear to God to you, I didn’t know exactly what the number was,” Izzo said.
“I don’t know — records are made to be broken and this one’s only tied. I guess it means a lot more to me because it proves I withstood some time and challenges. I think it’ll make Jud feel good that his hand-picked successor at least is the one who tied the record.”
Izzo, who began as a part-time assistant under Heathcote in 1983, is 340-137 (.712 win percentage) at the helm. He ranks third among active coaches for both wins and win percentage in the NCAA Tournament. He also stands eighth all-time in career Big Ten wins.
Just five days after a bruising home test against Gonzaga, the Spartans took the undermatched Crusaders to task, outrebounding them 45-31 and holding the visitors to 33 percent shooting from the field.
“Bad time to be playing the No. 2 team in the nation, which I think, if they played like it, they have a good chance to be the No. 1 team in the nation,” Valparaiso coach Homer Drew said. “Coach Izzo had gotten their attention in the last game and you just didn’t want to be this team on this day playing Michigan State University.”
For the second straight game, the Spartans featured a balanced scoring attack — with 12 players getting on the board — but this time against an undersized Valparaiso squad that features five international players and a lineup that was ill-prepared to run the floor with the Spartans and bang with them on the glass.
Junior guard Chris Allen led Spartans’ scorers with a career-high 22 points, capped off by a thunderous slam with 7:01 remaining in the second half that put an exclamation point on the victory and electrified the crowd.
“It’s just more confidence,” said Allen, who received a talking-to from Izzo before Friday’s game against Toledo. “I’m going to play hard on defense and I’m going to rebound. And, now on offense, I’m more confident.”
Sophomore forward Delvon Roe pulled down a career-high 17 boards, 10 on the defensive end.
MSU held a 46-28 halftime lead after surrendering back-to-back Crusaders field goals just twice in those first 20 minutes.
Valparaiso hung with the Spartans out of the gates in the second half, but never showed enough of a spark to mount a serious comeback.
After this weekend’s wins against Toledo and Valparaiso, the Spartans will move on to the championship rounds of the Legends Classic in Atlantic City, N.J., where they’ll first face Florida on Friday in a rematch of the 2000 National Championship game.
The championship and consolation games will be Saturday.
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