On Friday night, Michigan State basketball dug itself quite a hole in the first half against No. 3 Michigan, only to scratch and claw its way back, then lose in the end. It was an emotional, electric, juggernaut of a game in the Breslin Center, and one that will sting for Spartan fans for a while. After the game, Tom Izzo expressed disappointment in the way his team started the game, while giving some small credit to Michigan.

You can see his comments below.

• “To say I’m disappointed would be an understatement. I don’t like the way we played. Give Michigan credit, they played well, I guess.”
• “We’re starting to have too many turnovers by our bigs. I never thought I’d see the day where Coop (Carson Cooper) only has two rebounds in a game, none in the first half, and I’m sure that they had something to do with that.”
• “I was disappointed in the officiating but I was more disappointed in my team. I just didn’t think we played well enough. I do think there were some bizarre calls. But I think they made plays, especially Yaxel made a couple big plays late, and Cadeau played a couple plays.”
• “It’s a shame, Jeremy (Fears) played about as well as he can play in a number of ways just couldn’t get enough help from a number of people.”
• On Jaxon Kohler playing too many minutes: “I thought his legs were gone at the end. So I’m blaming that on me.”
• On MSU responding to Michigan’s physicality: “I like the way they responded, but I don’t know why they responded late. … You can’t dig holes that big and expect to come back, either. I thought that was the difference.”
• “I’m not gonna panic over getting beat.”
• On Jordan Scott starting the second half: “I like his comfort level. It makes me feel more comfortable.”
• On Michigan: “Michigan’s good, they got a good team. They got a lot of size, they can play different ways.”

Tom Izzo’s opening statement following MSU’s loss to UM: pic.twitter.com/jcxtaOszqA

— David Harns (@DavidHarns) January 31, 2026

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This article originally appeared on Spartans Wire: What Tom Izzo had to say about Michigan State after loss to Michigan