Tom Izzo shares how he will define success for Michigan State in this NCAA Tournament
A 19-14 overall record, a 10-10 finish in the Big Ten, and an appearance in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament was enough to propel Michigan State to the NCAA Tournament this year. Facing Mississippi State in the first-round on Thursday at 12:15 p.m. ET on CBS.
This will be Spartans head coach Tom Izzo‘s 26th consecutive appearance in March Madness, and ahead of his matchup with the Bulldogs, he was asked how deep of a run his team will have to make in order to call this season a successful one.
“Probably winning tonight, tomorrow,” Izzo said. “Listen, I’ve made no bones about that either. I’m pretty honest about how I feel about, have we underachieved? I think so. I think a lot of that falls on me.”
“Yet when I say that, those couple of injuries early hurt us, [Jaxon] Kohler and [Jeremy] Fears, so I try to be realistic with that. A couple of those tough losses. I mean, who’d ever think you’d go 1-for-20 [from the three-point line] and 23-for-38 from the free-throw line and lose a game in overtime at home?” Izzo asked referring to Michigan State’s upset loss to James Madison. “We’ve lost a couple of games with free-throw shooting, and we’re one of the best free-throw shooting teams in the nation last year. So things happen.”
The ball did not bounce the Spartans’ way consistently this season, as they still seek their 20th win of the year for a third consecutive season. But Izzo believes that this has been a theme across the college basketball landscape this season, with no team in the country being safe from an upset or blowout loss in any given game.
“But the way this tournament is, the way this season has gone for everybody — and I said everybody — Kelvin Sampson, I took over his job at Michigan State, he was the GA when I came. I love him, love his team,” Izzo said referring to Houston. “For them to get beat by 20 or 30 is just that kind of sums up the season, Kansas losing by that sums up the season.”
“So I was appreciative of getting in. I think we earned it because of the schedule we played in that, but I was also appreciative, and if we wouldn’t have, I would have been able to walk away and say that’s on us.”
Michigan State enters this year’s tournament as a No. 9 seed in the West Region, with a Thursday win more than likely resulting in a second-round matchup with top-seeded North Carolina. As the Spartans and their experienced head coach will take things one weekend at a time and look to rely on their strong defense and backcourt ahead of the NCAA Tournament.
“But every game you win in this tournament — like I said, I’ve been a 1 seed and 2 seed and been beat by a 15. I’ve been a very high seed and been beaten early. I’ve been a low seed and gone to a Final Four,” Izzo said. “So I’m just taking it one game at a time. I’m actually not. I’m taking it one weekend at a time because that’s where our program is at, but you have to win the first game to play the second one.”
“How deep? I don’t know, I’ll tell you after tomorrow night. How’s that? I’ll give you a better answer.”