Izzo right to be proud of players
When MSU fans were sulking after the 80-75 loss to No. 21 Michigan, Tom Izzo took the podium to address the heartbreaking game. “In the 30 years I’ve been here, I’ve never been more proud of a team,” he said. Wait, what? MSU just dropped a game against their rival to fall behind in the Big Ten title race, and he used the word “proud?” Well, as weird as it seems to say after losing such a marquee game, he’s right on the money. There is no question the Wolverines deserved to win Saturday’s game — they hit all the shots when they needed to in front of the delirious Breslin Center crowd. Yet at the same time, the Spartans took a few steps in the right direction without two of their biggest players. Missing two starters in Adreian Payne and Branden Dawson, Izzo was forced to play some guys who usually only see the court during warmups. Besides Gary Harris’s 27 points and Keith Appling’s double-double, freshman guard Alvin Ellis was the bright point during a loss at the hands of the Wolverines. To be honest, Ellis looked like anything but a first-year player.
