Safe to say, it just wasn’t Tom Izzo and Michigan State‘s night at Breslin Center tonight against the Iowa Hawkeyes.
They suffered their worst home loss in 30 years, and Izzo’s worst home loss since a 25-point setback in 1997. Their record now stands at a paultry 10-8 and 4-8 in Big Ten play with eight games remaining on the schedule.
Following the loss, Izzo didn’t mince words.
“Today was an ambush,” Izzo said. “It’s one game. It’s not good, but it’s not been indicative of how we’ve played (recently). We know what our goal is and what we have to do. There’s so many games we have to win, and we have eight left to do that in, to see what we can do.
“No excuses, blame should go on me and solely on me not on (the players). … I didn’t see it coming necessarily, but that’s my job.”
Iowa badly outshot the Spartans, hitting 49.2% from beyond the arc, while the Spartans hit a mere six of 21 3-pt attempts while shooting just 35.5% from the field.
“You gotta pick your poison,” Izzo said. “… We missed some shots, they made some shots. And that was a difference in the game.”
Their next matchup is against No. 25 Purdue on Tuesday.
“We have to find a way. That’s all we can do, we have to find a way, and we have to bite down,” said senior captain Joshua Langford, who scored 11 points. “I think this is where we’ll truly see what kind of team we have.”
“Our defense was just wasn’t there today,” said MSU junior Gabe Brown. “We didn’t connect very well on defense.”
The Spartans’ dim Tournament hopes are looking bleaker by the day.
– – Quotes via Chris Solari of The Detroit Free Press Link – –
Wasn’t this team supposed to be a title contender? May be time for Izzo to go.