After going down seven to end the first half, Michigan State basketball was able to rally back behind some great play from their stars Jeremy Fears, Carson Cooper, and Jaxon Kohler to take down Northwestern at home on Thursday night. After the game, head coach Tom Izzo was a little down on the performance, taking the blame for what he felt was a lack of effort while highlighting some players he thought really stepped up. He was also highly complimentary of a few Northwestern players he has a lot of respect for.
You can see his full comments from after the game below:
- “I will keep it short and sweet so you can see the football game (College Football Playoff)… but I’ll say this. I take responsibility for this team’s ineptness. We looked mentally tired, and that falls on me. 3 games in 6 days, we didn’t look very good.”
- “I feel bad for Coen Carr, he’s been shooting great during practice from the line.”
- “Some of it was fatigue, but, if you’re a fan, you had to enjoy watching them (NW) play in a way. I think that point guard, Reid, is very good. Nick Martinelli is a winning player, makes winning shots, he might be the best player in our league, if you look at it.”
- “After media today, I’m going to go home, watch a little bit of my favorite sport, and review the tape tomorrow morning.”
- “At halftime, the players knew they didn’t play well in the first half.”
- On his technical foul: “Over my career, I have had a few T’s. Usually, I get my money’s worth. Today, I got screwed. I didn’t get my money’s worth.”
- “We did a better job getting the ball in Jeremy’s hands, getting him downhill. Little plays, we executed better.”
- “You will see Cam Ward take a big leap.”
- “I’ve always been a Chris Collins fan. I think he does an amazing job. He’s running the ball more, never did that, they’re really getting after it defensively. When Martinelli hit the three late, Doug Wojcik and I said, ‘he’s a winner.'”
- On Jordan Scott: “Tonight, we talked about it, even starting him. He plays 18, 19. As a freshman, that’s unbelievable. He and Cam Ward, they are going to be very, very influential to us and the future.”
- “I got to do a better job making sure my team is fresh. If you want to blame somebody for tonight, blame me. They just looked tired.”
- “I was really pleased with Coen Carr tonight in the huddles. At halftime, he and Coop spoke a lot. When I talk to those guys on Saturday, I’m going to talk to those guys a lot. We didn’t take a bad play before halftime and let it extend.”
- Izzo closed the presser, saying he’s rooting for Ole Miss because of Grand Rapids native Trinidad Chambliss, who he says went to an MSU basketball camp as a kid.
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This article originally appeared on Spartans Wire: What Tom Izzo said after Michigan State’s win over Northwestern
