Tuesday night was a big one for Michigan State basketball head coach Tom Izzo. His Spartans were taking on the Michigan basketball team in East Lansing, it was Izzo's birthday and a win would give him 700 total for his career. Michigan State trailed at halftime, but an explosion in the second half led to an easy 81-62 win, and it was a milestone victory for the legendary head coach.
Michigan put up a good fight in the first half, but just like the rest of their Big Ten games this season, they collapsed in the second half. Michigan State basketball outscored the Wolverines by 21 points in the second half, and Tom Izzo now has 700 wins in his career.
“I am really, really honored, proud,” Izzo said after the game, according to an article from MLive. “I feel good. And like I said, we’re not dead yet. We’ve got some more wins, we’ve got some more years to go. I’m going to keep fighting the fight.”
Izzo is the 38th coach in college basketball history to reach this milestone, but he is just the 10th to get all 700 wins at one school. He became the head coach for Michigan State basketball in 1995, and he is still going strong.
“Seven hundred wins is pretty impressive even to me,” Izzo added. “Seven hundred wins at the same school, that means a lot to me. That’s probably what means the most to me.”
One of the best parts of the night for Izzo was the fact that a lot of his former Michigan State players were in attendance for the game. That meant a lot to him.
“That’s what means something to me,” Izzo said. “I told my team, boy you’d better learn something from those guys, because I’m worried that that will disappear as these stupid new rules continue to go.”
The Michigan State basketball community loves Tom Izzo, and he loves them. He is very appreciative of that fan base.
“Fans have supported me here,” Izzo said. “Fans have been unbelievable. The Izzone is unbelievable.”
Michigan State isn't having as good of a season as they imagined at the beginning of the year as they started off ranked #4 in the country. Still, the Spartans should end up in the NCAA Tournament, and anything can happen after that.
Michigan State is currently 13-8 overall and 5-5 in Big Ten play. They are in 7th place in the conference, and they will return to action on Saturday at home against Maryland.
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