MSU head coach Tom Izzo new Milwaukee (4-1) was going to be a challenge, but his team’s fatigue made the game an even bigger test.

“That was good team we played,” Izzo said. “I thought they were even a little better than I thought they would be, because of their physicalness, all those bigger guys were all similar they could make a shot, make a post move, bettle for rebounds did a lot of good things. We did not seem to have the energy, seemed a little tired.”

MSU found itself in foul trouble early and forced Izzo to go with strange rotations, with four starters on the bench. On the flip side, the Spartans went to the line 36 times and connected on just 22 of them.

The referees also were quick to whistle offensive fouls, calling 11 for the game.

Milwaukee head coach Rob Jeter said all the fouls were a disruption to the flow of the game.
Izzo was surprised by some of the offensive calls — both ways.

“I struggle with those charges,” he said. “It just seems like everyone is falling down now and if you’re outside the thing it’s a charge and I hope it doesn’t get to that. I worry about that.”

Although the team struggled with foul trouble and fatigue, Izzo was proud of the way junior center Derrick Nix played.

Last season at Thanksgiving, Nix opted to stay home when MSU traveled to Hawaii for the Maui Invitational and pondering transferring. Now Nix is one of Izzo’s most “reliable” players after dropping weight and working on his his endurance.

“I’m really proud of Derrick,” Izzo said. “His whole demeanor has changed, we ask a kid to change his shot or his weight or this or that, or who he is, he needed that and to his credit he has.”

Nix finished the game with 11 points and three rebounds, behind senior forward Draymond Green’s 18 points and eight rebounds.

Izzo said his players wanted the ball to go to Nix and that the game might have been the first time Nix played through being tired.

Nix said he played hard at the end out of necessity.

“Toward the end I got a little fatigued and he just told me to suck it up because (sophomore center Adreian Payne) was in foul trouble,” he said. “He needs me out there so I tried to pick it up a little.”

The win ends a stretch of five games in 12 days and gives the Spartans a little rest before Sunday’s game at Eastern Michigan.

Green said the rest will be nice and help the team pick up its intensity come Sunday.

“Definitely, everybody gets to go home for a minute and see their family,” he said. “Then get back and get at it. We know Eastern is going to be a tough game, so we’ll get away for a break for a day, then we’ll come back and it’s grind time.”