Tom Izzo is the furthest thing from an inscrutable buddha. If you can’t tell exactly how he’s feeling at any particular moment or during any particular Michigan State season, then you’re just not good at reading basic body language or hearing what’s coming from his lips.
Here, allow Northwestern coach Chris Collins to demonstrate how it’s done.
“This team is kind of back to vintage Michigan State (in toughness and pushing the pace),” Collins said Sunday after the Spartans came to Evanston and earned a 78-68 win to push their winning streak to nine games. “I can tell he really likes this team. And there’s certain teams, you could tell, he doesn’t like as much. He doesn’t hold that back. You can tell he really likes them because they’re him. They play to his personality and they have great point-guard play.”
Indeed, Izzo confirmed all this to Hoops HQ after Sunday’s win, which kept Michigan State (14-2, 5-0) atop the Big Ten alongside Michigan (13-3, 5-0). It was also Izzo’s 348th in Big Ten play, which puts him just five behind Bob Knight for the league record. “I’ve usually had a pro or two I could go to all the time,” Izzo said. “I don’t have that, but we’re doing it by committee. Like somebody said, ‘Who are you going to go to?’”
Then Izzo, who turns 70 on Jan. 30, broke into a big smile.
“I said, ‘Sometimes I don’t know, but I know one thing: The coach on the other end, he has no idea because I have no idea. It’s not all bad. It’s different. I’m learning how to deal with it. But it’s kind of like we’re all growing together. And that’s been fun. I really mean that.”
Unlike recent teams, these Spartans also have quality depth, with ten players averaging between 13.6 and 26.4 minutes. Senior shooting guard Jaden Akins, who plays of those 26.4 minutes, is the only double-figure scorer at 14.1 points per game. Six other guys average between 7.4 and 9.7 points.
The Spartans’ growth process began in April. Ordinarily, foreign trips are planned a year in advance, but Izzo decided then that the Spartans needed the second foreign trip in his 30 years as the boss. Thus the August visit to Spain was rapidly booked.
Not only did Michigan State need to figure out how to replace its top three scorers, redshirt freshman point guard Jeremy Fears Jr. was getting back into shape after suffering a gunshot wound to his thigh just before Christmas 2023. Also, the Spartans added two older transfers in 7-foot forward Syzmon Zapala (Longwood) and 6-foot-7 wing Frankie Fidler (Omaha) along with a freshman trio featuring Jase Richardson.
“The summer was good for us,” Izzo said. “We went to Spain. We went to Northern Michigan. We’ve tried to spend a lot of time together, you know? In this transactional-based society that we’re in right now, I’m still relationship-based. And I think I’ve got a bunch of guys who actually like each other. They’re not jealous of one another.”
Michigan State is out-rebounding opponents by 10.7 boards per game, which also harkens back to old-school MSU teams. And Izzo is enamored with Fears. “He and I are on the same page,” Izzo said. “When the coach and player are happy together and disappointed together, that’s a good sign.”
If Michigan State beats Penn State at Breslin Center Wednesday night, it will have its first ten-game winning streak and first 6-0 Big Ten start since 2018-19 — the last time the Spartans made the Final Four.
But Izzo doesn’t live in a dreamworld, to use one of his favorite words. He knows the Spartans have yet to face their most severe tests. At the same time, he sees a team shooting just 28.9 percent on 3-pointers (second-worst among all power-conference teams) and knows it’s due. “I’m not being crazy and thinking we have a big level to go to, but we can be a lot better,” he said. “And I think what’s hard right now for everybody is some schedules are backloaded and some schedules are frontloaded because there’s so many weird teams out there now. If you look at our last eight or nine games, ours is definitely backloaded. I’m not taking away from us. I’m just trying to keep it in perspective.”
IS INDIANA BETTER WITHOUT ITS BEST SCORER?
In the preseason, the Indiana Hoosiers were almost everyone’s pick to win the Big Ten. There was zero doubt the Hoosiers would return to the NCAA Tournament after missing March Madness last year.
But as of New Year’s Day, the Hoosiers’ resume didn’t look like that of an NCAA Tournament team. They ranked 68th in the NET and 56th on KenPom thanks to hammerings from Louisville, Gonzaga and Nebraska. Indiana had no wins over Top 70 foes.
Then things appeared to get worse in the opening minute of Indiana’s home game vs. Rutgers Jan. 2 when junior power forward Malik Reneau hurt his right leg on the game’s second possession. That knocked out the Hoosiers’ leading scorer (15.2 ppg entering the night) and most efficient scorer (123.1 efficiency rating per KenPom). It looked like a devastating blow, but from there the Hoosiers caught fire. They bounced Rutgers by 10, edged Penn State in overtime (after blowing a big lead) at The Palestra and beat USC by 13. That spree enabled the Hoosiers to climb 12 spots in the NET (to 56) and seven in KenPom (to 49).
It also encouraged everyone to second-guess head coach Mike Woodson’s preference to play two bigs together when the rest of the basketball universe seems determined to space the floor with four shooters. With Luke Goode installed at the power forward spot in Reneau’s absence, the Hoosiers averaged 112.5 points per 100 possessions while shooting 38.0 percent on three-pointers in those three wins.
But here was Woodson’s take after Wednesday’s win over USC: “Well, (Goode) gives us better space, but make no mistake about it: Malik is a big part of what we do, so he’s not going anywhere.”
At that juncture, EvanMiya.com showed Indiana’s best five-man lineup — calculated as the difference between their raw Offensive Efficiency and raw Defensive Efficiency while playing together — as Oumar Ballo, Goode, Mackenzie Mgbako, Trey Galloway and Myles Rice. But after Saturday’s disastrous 85-60 loss at Iowa, the Hoosiers’ biggest loss to the Hawkeyes since 1995-96, Reneau replaced Goode in what EvanMiya.com considers to be the Hoosiers’ best five. Still, the difference is so slight that Woodson will have to figure out how to juggle his lineups virtually every minute of every game the rest of the way.
With Indiana down to 60 in the NET and 56 in KenPom after Saturday’s loss, the Hoosiers’ NCAA Tournament chances depend on Woodson making the right calls way more often than not the rest of the way.
AROUND THE RIM:
- With Rutgers’ Dylan Harper and Illinois’ Kasparas Jakucionis highly unlikely to spend more than one season playing in college, seeing as how Hoops HQ’s latest mock draft shows both going in the top five, it’s a disappointment for their teams and fans to have these brilliant 18-year-old point guards missing time.
Heading into Rutgers’ home game versus UCLA Monday, Harper has played just 43 minutes over the last three games. After losing nine pounds due to the flu, Harper scored seven points in that stretch and, to little surprise, the Scarlet Knights (8-8, 1-4) lost all three games to fall into the bottom three of the Big Ten standings.
Meanwhile, Illinois’ results have been more mixed without Jakucionis, who missed both home games last week with an injured left forearm. The Illini thrashed Penn State by 39 points — their largest Big Ten victory margin in 19 seasons — only to suffer an 82-72 loss to USC Saturday.
Without Jakucionis’ steady hand and peerless high-screen reads, the Illini rarely found ways to create double-teams that lead to open shots. As a result, they made just seven of 32 three-pointers. Illinois coach Brad Underwood says he’s day-to-day, but the Illini could really use him Tuesday at Indiana.
“There’s comfort that we have with ‘KJ’ all the time,” Underwood said. “And I thought we got just a little rattled, a little out of sorts, without him (against USC).” - On the flip side of Illinois’ Saturday malaise, USC earned its first road win over a Top 25 team since Dec. 21, 2010, as point guard Desmond Claude controlled the game. He succeeded so often on stop-and-go moves to the basket and mid-range pullups, he didn’t need any three-pointers to pile up a season-high 31 points. Just as important, USC joined then-No. 1 Tennessee as the only teams to outboard the nation’s No. 1 team in rebounding margin this season.
The Trojans’ victory erased the sour taste of Wednesday’s loss at Indiana, when they faltered after an early 10-point lead, and took their minds off the Los Angeles wildfires for a bit.
“Look, the stuff that’s going on in L.A. has affected us,” said USC coach Eric Musselman. “We have three staff members, their families have been evacuated. My wife, although (the fires aren’t) in Manhattan Beach, the first night she’s calling at two in the morning and four in the morning because she’s nervous about it. So it has affected everyone, for sure.”
Indeed, it was unfortunate timing for USC and UCLA to be most of the way across the country while Southern California has been dealing with the devastating fires. “It is literally an unbelievably horrible situation,” Cronin said after the Buins’ lost at Maryland Friday. “We lost (Tuesday) night and I went home and packed. Bags are still by the door of my house of valuables and things like that. That is my only concern.” - With Rutgers’ Dylan Harper sitting out Jan. 2 at Indiana, running mate Ace Bailey picked up the slack by pouring in a career-high 39 points. He took 29 of the Scarlet Knights’ 61 shots and also blocked four shots.
His scoring heroics tied Rutgers’ freshman record set by Corey Sanders on Feb. 3, 2016, when he piled up 39 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds in a triple-overtime loss to Illinois.
Bailey’s 39 points also were the most by a Big Ten freshman since Ohio State’s Jared Sullinger delivered 40 points on Dec. 9, 2010 against IUPUI (now known as UI Indy). And, while some teams’ freshman records are incomplete or hard to find, the only known Big Ten freshman to crack the 40-point barrier was UCLA’s Don MacLean on Dec. 30, 1988. - With Illinois losing Saturday, Michigan has become the Big Ten’s new leader in the NET and KenPom rankings. The Wolverines earned their spot in both Top 10s with their 94-75 road whipping of UCLA on Tuesday. Fifth-year center Vladislav Goldin had a game for the ages with 36 points — 10 more than his previous career-high — in 32 minutes.
By the way, former Michigan star Jalen Rose handled the color analyst job for Peacock during that game and referred to Wolverines seven-foot point forward Danny Wolf more than once as “Joker-ish,” a nod to three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic. Wolf certainly stuffed the stat sheet Jan. 4 at USC. In 33 minutes, Wolf went off for 21 points, 13 rebounds, 7 assists and 6 blocks. That was college basketball’s first 20-10-6-6 stat line in 14 seasons. - Speaking of outrageous stat lines, check out Iowa senior Payton Sandfort’s wild swing in the Hawkeyes’ home wins over Nebraska and Indiana last week: Before halftime of those games, Sandfort posted a grand total of 2 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists and 3 turnovers in 23 minutes while shooting 0 for 5 from the field.
But in 44 minutes after halftime, here’s what the 2024 third-team all-Big Ten swingman accomplished: 51 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals on 15 of 21 shooting from the field, 10 of 15 on threes and 11 of 12 at the line.
OK, armchair coaches: What should Iowa boss Fran McCaffery’s strategy be for Iowa’s 9:30 p.m. CT tip Tuesday at USC? Should he tell Sandfort to start his pregame routine an hour earlier than normal — or not to bother putting him on the floor until the second half?
GAMES TO WATCH (All times ET)
Illinois at Indiana, Tuesday, 7 p.m., Peacock. Here’s a golden chance for the Hoosiers to improve their NET and KenPom metrics, especially if the Illini are without freshman point guard Kasparas Jakucionis for the third straight game. Currently, they have no wins over Top 50 teams. The subplot: This is Indiana senior Luke Goode’s chance to play against the school he called home the last three years. Goode shot 38.8 percent on 3s for the Illini and he’s hitting 37.3 percent for the Hoosiers.
Purdue at Oregon, Saturday, 3 p.m., NBC/Peacock. The Ducks flunked their first two home games against other upper-echelon teams (UCLA and Illinois), so this is a biggie for Jackson Shelstad, Nate Bittle and company. Considering the Boilers are 8-0 when Braden Smith produces at least 10 assists but 5-4 when he doesn’t, maybe the Ducks need to turn him into a shoot-first point guard.
Illinois at Michigan State, Sunday, Noon, CBS. This is the biggest game on Michigan State’s home schedule all season…until the regular-season finale versus Michigan on March 9. With the students back in school, the Izzone will be in peak frenzy mode. In that vein, two of the nation’s top eight teams in rebounding margin are going to conduct virtual warfare under both baskets.
Michigan at Purdue, Jan. 24, 8 p.m., FOX. Boilers head coach Matt Painter finally has settled on starting senior bigs Trey Kaufman-Renn and Caleb Furst together, but here’s their biggest challenge of the year. It’s not just whether they can be the first Big Ten team to slow down the Danny Wolf-Vladislav Goldin train; it’s whether Kaufman-Renn’s assortment of post moves can earn points and/or fouls against the taller and stronger Goldin. On the other hand: Purdue’s home winning streak has hit 26 games— tied for the second-longest in school history.