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Consider it a Sweet 16 reunion of sorts for Tom Izzo.
Up first for Michigan State basketball, a rematch with Dan Hurley’s Connecticut team that handed the Spartans first loss of the season (even though it didn’t count).
Get through that, and either the omnipresent Duke Blue Devils or Izzo’s close friend Rick Pitino and his St. John’s Red Storm await.
The East regional of the NCAA Tournament at Capital One Arena in Washington will feel like the basketball equivalent of K Street with the coaches’ schmoozing and gushing over one another. And Izzo will have plenty of familiarity with the others vying for the East's spot in the Final Four.
The 3-seed Spartans head to Izzo’s 17th Sweet 16 and will face 2-seed UConn on Friday, March 27 (9:45 p.m., CBS). The winner will advance to Sunday’s Elite Eight against either 1-seed Duke or 5-seed St. John’s.
Almost presciently on March 16, the day after the bracket was revealed, Izzo said he felt MSU’s region was “maybe the best” in the entire NCAA field.
“I took a big picture of the region we’re in with Duke – not looking ahead at all, just figuring out what is your bracket,” the 31st-year Hall of Fame coach said last Monday. “When I saw St. John’s as a 5-seed, I said, ‘Oh, my God.’ They had beat the daylights out of UConn, and I have great respect for UConn.”
Between the four coaches, they own five national titles, 18 Final Four apperancs, 25 Elite Eight trips and 33 Sweet 16 appearances. Now, all four will be in D.C.
And the Spartans (27-7) have lost to two of them already this season.
MSU lost to the Huskies, 76-69, in an exhibition game on Oct. 28 in Hartford, Connecticut. UConn led by as many as 19 points in the second half before MSU mounted a furious comeback in the final two minutes, foreshadowing the many second-half comebacks for the Spartans during the regular season.
Hurley’s Huskies (31-5) went on to finish 17-3 in the Big East and defeated 7-seed UCLA, 73-57, on Sunday night in Philadelphia to advance to Washington. Hurley then sung Izzo's praises on live TV.
“I mean, you talk about an honor to share the sideline with one of the greatest coaches and one of the most real coaches,” Hurley said on CBS after beating the Bruins. “He’s not a phony in any way. What you see is what you get, and he’s one of the greatest to ever do it. He’s always been my most respected coach that I’ve tried to model myself after at the college level. I love coach Izzo.”
While the gam in Hartford didn’t count, MSU’s game against Duke on Dec. 6 at Breslin Center did. The Spartans went shot-for-shot with Jon Scheyer’s Blue Devils and led by as many as five points inside of 13 minutes left. But All-American freshman Cam Boozer scored 16 of his 18 points in the second half and grabbed 15 rebounds with five assists as Duke rallied to a 66-60 victory to hand Izzo’s team its first loss and only nonconference defeat of the season.
Scheyer after the win expressed “how much respect our program, how much respect me personally, that we have for Tom Izzo and his program.”
“They have a great group and they’re tough and together. … We took a lot of punches throughout the game,” Scheyer said of the Spartans, adding that, “they have as good of a defense as anybody.”
Izzo said having played those two teams helps him and his staff at this point in the season, particularly with how quick the turnarounds are from one round to the next, one game to the next at the neutral host sites.
“You gotta make sure you understand what they’re doing, what their tendencies are, all that stuff. … Any time you play a team (a second time), it’s not an advantage for us, because it’s the same for them,” he said on Selection Sunday. “But it makes it a little bit easier in some ways to prep for them anyway. Not play them, but prep for them.”
In their only regular-season meeting since Hurley took over the Huskies in 2020, Izzo’s Spartans defeated UConn, 64-60, at the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas on Nov. 25, 2022. Izzo is 0-2 against Scheyer, who's now in his fourth season succeeding mentor Mike Krzyzcewski in 2022, with a 74-65 loss two seasons ago in the Champions Classic on Nov. 14, 2023.
“You look at UConn, we played them the second game of the year, it was an exhibition game. … Duke, they’ve got injuries, they’ve got injuries, they’ve had different people,” Izzo said on March 15 when asked about potentially playing previous opponents again. “People have gotten better, the freshmen are becoming sophomores. I don’t know, it helps with the X's and O's part, but it doesn’t help with the Jimmies and Joes, I think, as much.”
And then there is Pitino, a longtime friend of Izzo’s who is just 1-3 against him, with all of those games while Pitino coached Louisville. Two of Izzo’s wins over Pitino came in the Elite Eight, in 2009 and 2015, to advance to the Final Four.
MSU also won the last time the two Hall of Fame coaches faced off on Dec. 2, 2015, a 73-64 home victory at Breslin Center in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. Pitino’s lone win came in 2012 Sweet 16.
“His teams always play hard,” Izzo said of Pitino in 2015. “He has so much passion and energy watching from the sideline, and he's living every shot. … I love what he does – I love his energy, I love his enthusiasm, I love his passion. It's easy to see. It's not because he wears it on his sleeve, it's beyond that.
“For a guy who's done it at different levels and different schools, I haven't done that. That's why I do have great respect for Rick.”
Pitino shared a mutual admiration for Izzo before their Elite Eight game in 2015.
“We're very similar in a lot of regards,” Pitino said then. “We don't believe in Twitter. We don't believe in too much social media. We're kind of old fashioned in that regard. But we're still young at heart in a lot of different ways. So our similarities in the way we run our programs, I think, are very stark.
“I'm a big fan of his. Always been a big fan because he stands for the right principles in our sport, does it the right way. He really loves his players, coaches them the right way. Makes them mentally and physically tough. When they leave, they're tough in business, they're tough in sports. He believes in education, all the things that I admire.”
But before MSU can even think about either Duke or St. John’s, though – even though Izzo has his staff working ahead to analyze and prepare for both in the second round – he and the Spartans first have to show they’ve closed the gap with UConn in the five months since their exhibition game.
Hurley, whose team won national titles in 2023 and 20224, sounded relieved and confident after knocking off UCLA. He quickly turned his focus to the upcoming matchup with Izzo. And Hurley and Izzo both have one dream and mission until April: Getting past Izzo to the Final Four.
“I will even call him before the game just to break the ice,” Hurley said, before breaking the fourth wall and looking directly into the CBS camera to deliver the message himself. “So, coach, I’ll be calling.”
Contact Chris Solari: [email protected]. Follow him @chrissolari.
Subscribe to the "Spartan Speak" podcast for new episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or anywhere you listen to podcasts.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State basketball Sweet 16 draw brings all the coaching love
Continue reading...
Up first for Michigan State basketball, a rematch with Dan Hurley’s Connecticut team that handed the Spartans first loss of the season (even though it didn’t count).
Get through that, and either the omnipresent Duke Blue Devils or Izzo’s close friend Rick Pitino and his St. John’s Red Storm await.
The East regional of the NCAA Tournament at Capital One Arena in Washington will feel like the basketball equivalent of K Street with the coaches’ schmoozing and gushing over one another. And Izzo will have plenty of familiarity with the others vying for the East's spot in the Final Four.
You must be registered for see images attach
The 3-seed Spartans head to Izzo’s 17th Sweet 16 and will face 2-seed UConn on Friday, March 27 (9:45 p.m., CBS). The winner will advance to Sunday’s Elite Eight against either 1-seed Duke or 5-seed St. John’s.
Almost presciently on March 16, the day after the bracket was revealed, Izzo said he felt MSU’s region was “maybe the best” in the entire NCAA field.
“I took a big picture of the region we’re in with Duke – not looking ahead at all, just figuring out what is your bracket,” the 31st-year Hall of Fame coach said last Monday. “When I saw St. John’s as a 5-seed, I said, ‘Oh, my God.’ They had beat the daylights out of UConn, and I have great respect for UConn.”
Between the four coaches, they own five national titles, 18 Final Four apperancs, 25 Elite Eight trips and 33 Sweet 16 appearances. Now, all four will be in D.C.
And the Spartans (27-7) have lost to two of them already this season.
MSU lost to the Huskies, 76-69, in an exhibition game on Oct. 28 in Hartford, Connecticut. UConn led by as many as 19 points in the second half before MSU mounted a furious comeback in the final two minutes, foreshadowing the many second-half comebacks for the Spartans during the regular season.
You must be registered for see images attach
Hurley’s Huskies (31-5) went on to finish 17-3 in the Big East and defeated 7-seed UCLA, 73-57, on Sunday night in Philadelphia to advance to Washington. Hurley then sung Izzo's praises on live TV.
“I mean, you talk about an honor to share the sideline with one of the greatest coaches and one of the most real coaches,” Hurley said on CBS after beating the Bruins. “He’s not a phony in any way. What you see is what you get, and he’s one of the greatest to ever do it. He’s always been my most respected coach that I’ve tried to model myself after at the college level. I love coach Izzo.”
While the gam in Hartford didn’t count, MSU’s game against Duke on Dec. 6 at Breslin Center did. The Spartans went shot-for-shot with Jon Scheyer’s Blue Devils and led by as many as five points inside of 13 minutes left. But All-American freshman Cam Boozer scored 16 of his 18 points in the second half and grabbed 15 rebounds with five assists as Duke rallied to a 66-60 victory to hand Izzo’s team its first loss and only nonconference defeat of the season.
Scheyer after the win expressed “how much respect our program, how much respect me personally, that we have for Tom Izzo and his program.”
“They have a great group and they’re tough and together. … We took a lot of punches throughout the game,” Scheyer said of the Spartans, adding that, “they have as good of a defense as anybody.”
You must be registered for see images attach
Izzo said having played those two teams helps him and his staff at this point in the season, particularly with how quick the turnarounds are from one round to the next, one game to the next at the neutral host sites.
“You gotta make sure you understand what they’re doing, what their tendencies are, all that stuff. … Any time you play a team (a second time), it’s not an advantage for us, because it’s the same for them,” he said on Selection Sunday. “But it makes it a little bit easier in some ways to prep for them anyway. Not play them, but prep for them.”
In their only regular-season meeting since Hurley took over the Huskies in 2020, Izzo’s Spartans defeated UConn, 64-60, at the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas on Nov. 25, 2022. Izzo is 0-2 against Scheyer, who's now in his fourth season succeeding mentor Mike Krzyzcewski in 2022, with a 74-65 loss two seasons ago in the Champions Classic on Nov. 14, 2023.
“You look at UConn, we played them the second game of the year, it was an exhibition game. … Duke, they’ve got injuries, they’ve got injuries, they’ve had different people,” Izzo said on March 15 when asked about potentially playing previous opponents again. “People have gotten better, the freshmen are becoming sophomores. I don’t know, it helps with the X's and O's part, but it doesn’t help with the Jimmies and Joes, I think, as much.”
And then there is Pitino, a longtime friend of Izzo’s who is just 1-3 against him, with all of those games while Pitino coached Louisville. Two of Izzo’s wins over Pitino came in the Elite Eight, in 2009 and 2015, to advance to the Final Four.
You must be registered for see images attach
MSU also won the last time the two Hall of Fame coaches faced off on Dec. 2, 2015, a 73-64 home victory at Breslin Center in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. Pitino’s lone win came in 2012 Sweet 16.
“His teams always play hard,” Izzo said of Pitino in 2015. “He has so much passion and energy watching from the sideline, and he's living every shot. … I love what he does – I love his energy, I love his enthusiasm, I love his passion. It's easy to see. It's not because he wears it on his sleeve, it's beyond that.
“For a guy who's done it at different levels and different schools, I haven't done that. That's why I do have great respect for Rick.”
Pitino shared a mutual admiration for Izzo before their Elite Eight game in 2015.
“We're very similar in a lot of regards,” Pitino said then. “We don't believe in Twitter. We don't believe in too much social media. We're kind of old fashioned in that regard. But we're still young at heart in a lot of different ways. So our similarities in the way we run our programs, I think, are very stark.
“I'm a big fan of his. Always been a big fan because he stands for the right principles in our sport, does it the right way. He really loves his players, coaches them the right way. Makes them mentally and physically tough. When they leave, they're tough in business, they're tough in sports. He believes in education, all the things that I admire.”
But before MSU can even think about either Duke or St. John’s, though – even though Izzo has his staff working ahead to analyze and prepare for both in the second round – he and the Spartans first have to show they’ve closed the gap with UConn in the five months since their exhibition game.
Hurley, whose team won national titles in 2023 and 20224, sounded relieved and confident after knocking off UCLA. He quickly turned his focus to the upcoming matchup with Izzo. And Hurley and Izzo both have one dream and mission until April: Getting past Izzo to the Final Four.
“I will even call him before the game just to break the ice,” Hurley said, before breaking the fourth wall and looking directly into the CBS camera to deliver the message himself. “So, coach, I’ll be calling.”
Contact Chris Solari: [email protected]. Follow him @chrissolari.
Subscribe to the "Spartan Speak" podcast for new episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or anywhere you listen to podcasts.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State basketball Sweet 16 draw brings all the coaching love
Continue reading...
