MSU men’s basketball head coach Tom Izzo discusses tonight’s game between the No. 9 Spartans and No. 10 North Carolina, as well as a look at the developing rivalry between the Spartans and Tar Heels. The two play at 9 p.m. tonight on ESPN.
For the past few seasons, head coach Tom Izzo vehemently has defended the Big Ten, saying the conference is as strong as any in the country.
This preseason, many agreed with the MSU men’s basketball head coach, as numerous media outlets and national experts pegged the Big Ten as the nation’s premiere conference — even better than the Big East and ACC.
Then, this weekend happened.
Not only did the Spartans lose to Florida — falling to No. 9 in the nation — but
Michigan, Minnesota and Illinois entirely fell out of the polls.
“I think the one thing our conference has done this year, and maybe I’ll get blamed for it, is scheduling better,” Izzo said.
“When you do that and you leave home and go far places or you play tougher schedules, you’re going to lose some games.”
But for all the conference’s struggles last weekend, the Big Ten has a great opportunity this week to bounce back.
The 11th annual ACC/Big Ten Challenge tipped off Monday night in a game between Penn State and Virginia, with five games today — including MSU vs. No. 10 North Carolina at 9 p.m. on ESPN — and five games Wednesday.
The No. 9 Spartans are a Big Ten-best 5-4 in the challenge. Last season, they also played North Carolina, losing to the Tar Heels 98-63 at Ford Field in Detroit.
The Big Ten never has won the challenge, but has come close on a few occasions, including last year when the ACC edged the Big Ten 6-5 for the win.
Izzo said those close losses — losses nonetheless — have hurt the conference’s perception throughout the years, the only thing he dislikes about the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
“The ACC deserves what they’ve gotten; they’ve beaten us,” Izzo said.
“I have a lot of respect for the ACC, and yet I think a couple times when it was 5-4 it was like the ACC was here (holding one hand high) and the Big Ten was here (holding the other hand low) because of that outcome. I thought it was ridiculous.”
Some other games in the challenge include Wake Forest at No. 4 Purdue, No. 6 Duke at Wisconsin, Florida State at No. 15 Ohio State and Boston College at Michigan.
Go Draymond, go White
Izzo expected Draymond Green to play a key role for the Spartans this year because of the sophomore forward’s versatility. Six games into the season, Green has lived up to Izzo’s expectations by contributing in all aspects of the game.
Green leads the team in rebounding (8.7 per game), is second in both steals (seven) and blocks (six), third in assists (19) and fourth in scoring (10.2).
He also has recorded double-doubles in two of the Spartans’ first six games.
Still, Izzo said Green needs to get in better shape and become more consistent shooting.
Once he does that, Izzo thinks Green will be ready for yet another step.
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“He understands the game as well as anybody other than (senior forward Raymar Morgan), now he just has to mature into being a student of the game outside of practice,” Izzo said. “That’s the last step I’d like to see him take. If he takes that he’s going to go from real good to great.”
The turnovers
Two days later, Izzo still was frustrated about the 23 turnovers the Spartans committed in Friday’s loss to Florida.
“If you look at the Florida game, we shot (52) percent, but we didn’t give ourselves enough chances to get shots up because of the crazy turnovers we had, and I think it was the worst since I’ve been here,” Izzo said.
“I’ve canonized (Florida’s) press enough. It was good, but it wasn’t (23) turnovers good. That was just a lack of concentration on our part, and I thought a lack of dedication and valuing the basketball.”
Through six games, the Spartans have accumulated 86 turnovers, while forcing 76 out of their opponents.
