The Michigan State Spartans basketball team has been focusing on issues much larger than sports after the tragic shooting that took place on their campus last Monday. But on Saturday night, they returned to the court to take on the Michigan Wolverines, and while they ended up losing 84-72, head coach Tom Izzo was proud of how his team went out and performed.

Izzo and the Spartans saw their midweek contest against Minnesota get postponed as a result of the shooting, but they knew early on that they wanted to play against Michigan on Saturday. And while they didn't get the result they were looking for, Izzo let everyone know that he was proud of his team for how they performed in the wake of such a tragedy.

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“What I asked of them is to give everybody something to be proud of and I thought for most part we did that. We made a couple of mistakes that you don't get to make in big games and we have to live with that. But I asked for 40 minutes of focus and got 38 and feel pretty honored about that. I'm proud of the guys because I don't know how they felt, but I know how I felt.” – Tom Izzo, The Detroit News

The Spartans wanted to play, but it was always going to be tough for them to win given the recent tragedy their school has suffered. But after the game, Izzo made it clear that he didn't really care about the outcome of the game, and in the grand scheme of things, it's safe to say that the outcome feels rather insignificant. The Spartans will try to finish off their season strong, but by just taking the court at this point, they are winning in the eyes of many.