What Tom Izzo said about Michigan State's win over No. 5 Illinois

There’s nothing like a win over a top-5 team to wipe the taste of a disappointing road loss out of your mouth. On Saturday, Tom Izzo’s team did just that, rebounding from a frustrating road loss to Minnesota with a massive overtime win over No. 5 Illinois in the Breslin Center.

After the game, Tom Izzo was, as always, very complimentary of Brad Underwood and Illinois, and extremely proud of his two freshmen for their performance in a gutsy win. You can see his comments on the game below:

  • “We said we had to rebound, we did. We made free throws, we ran good sets. My freshmen, both of them, played really well. Jordan Scott, what do you say about him? He’s got stitches in his eye, made shots, made free throws, his defense is unbelievable.”
  • “I think that is one of the better teams we played, that is one of the better coaches we went against.”
  • “Jeremy Fears Jr. played really well, but he will be the first to tell you, he missed a couple of cutouts, switches.”
  • “I thought we had some great shots early, but we just missed really good shots. My staff did a great job; I just handled all the distractions.”
  • “I think we got a little full of ourselves, for a while.”
  • “Jordan Scott has a sense of urgency about him. This kid really defends, he gets loose balls, he makes his shots now.”
  • “Some guys get nervous, some guys get excited, Jordan Scott is pretty even-keel. Sometimes even too even-keel for me. That’s him, that’s me. He does not have a nervous bone in his body.”
  • “We need to get back to doing what we need to do. Are we over a hump? Hell no. The only nice thing for me, to tell the truth? I thought we played Wisconsin Wednesday. I thought we had a short turnaround.”
  • Izzo on the Super Bowl: “I am going to do my favorite thing in the world, watch the Super Bowl. I got two Spartans playing, one on each side.”
  • “Cam Ward needed this. I was as happy for Cam as anybody.”
  • “Today, in our shootaround, Kur Teng made 22 three pointers in a row.”
  • “This team has confidence in each other. We’ve played bad, we got controversy, distractions.”
  • “The best way to stick ahead is avoid dirtbags and distractions.”
  • “Our margin for errors is very slim. That said, we have had teams where the margin for error is extremely big, and we were out in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.”
  • “We did do some good things. Trey Fort has been practicing better, we are going to get him in some more.”
  • “I am the luckiest human being on the planet to have fans like we have. That makes a big, big, difference. I just wish we were up enough to enjoy that moment. When you look up and see people going crazy in the upper deck, that means a lot to Tom Izzo.”

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This article originally appeared on Spartans Wire: What Tom Izzo said about Michigan State’s win over No. 5 Illinois

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