The Michigan State Spartans weren’t able to replicate any magic from this weekend’s upset victory over the Purdue Boilermakers, falling against their in-state rivals from Ann Arbor by an 87-70 final at Crisler Center.
It was sophomore center Hunter Dickenson making his presence felt for the host Wolverines, tallying 33 points on the night along with nine rebounds, while Caleb Houstan added 16 points. Meanwhile, the Spartans were led by Gabe Brown in scoring with 13 on the night.
The setback means that head coach Tom Izzo will have to wait for another day to pass former Indiana coach Bobby Knight for most career victories by a coach at a Big Ten School. And never being one to shy away from speaking his mind, Izzo laid his thoughts out for all to see following the disappointment.
“That’s kind of the storyline. The lack of leadership in our juniors and seniors disappoints me,” he said.
He continued: “We’re not going to fix our leadership right now. What we’re going to do is try to figure out how we can do a little better job on those ball screens.”
“I don’t know how you come off a game like Saturday and play your rival,” he said before trailing off in thought. Izzo would later go on to say that his players “didn’t guard anybody” and had trouble against dribble penetration.
Though the Spartans were able to get things in check in the 2nd half and go on a 10-2 run with under 10 minutes remaining in regulation, it’s as far as they’d get.
“We’ll do better,” Izzo continued. “I am disappointed. Disappointed in the way we played.”
The Spartans will now regroup and continue their road trip by traveling to Columbus for a matchup against the No. 3 ranked Ohio State Buckeyes.
– – Quotes via Chris Solari Link – –
