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Tom Izzo didn’t sugarcoat his disappointment.
After No. 7 Michigan State narrowly avoided a disastrous upset loss to Rutgers, the Spartans head coach was blunt about his team’s performance.
“We got our butts kicked most of that game,” Izzo said.
The Spartans (19-2, 9-1 in the Big Ten) trailed the Scarlet Knights (9-12, 2-8) for the entire second half until Jeremy Fears found Divine Ugochukwu for a game-tying corner 3-pointer. Michigan State pulled away in overtime for an 88-79 victory. Fears finished with a career-high 29 points, scoring 27 in the second half and overtime, and the Spartans received contributions from multiple players to help build a cushion in the extra period.
No. 7 Michigan State Spartans vs. Rutgers Scarlet Knights Highlights 🏀 FOX College Hoops
“To win championships, or to win a lot of games, you got to be good,” Izzo said. “But then, every now and then, you got to be lucky. Tonight, we’ll put that one on the lucky side. We were lucky.”
If not for the ball bouncing its way, and multiple missed free throws from Rutgers’ Jamichael Davis leaving the door open for Ugochukwu’s decisive 3, Michigan State would have been on the wrong end of the biggest upset of the season. The Spartans can’t rely on luck against their next opponent.
Michigan State hosts No. 3 Michigan, who ended No. 5 Nebraska’s undefeated season on Tuesday, with a 75-72 victory in Ann Arbor, Friday at 8 p.m. ET (on FOX and the FOX Sports app). Over the next three days, the Spartans will either analyze Tuesday’s tight-knit game, or throw the film in the trash. They’ll do whatever it takes to prepare for the Wolverines.
“Got a quick turnaround now, but we’re going to try to learn on the way home on the plane,” Izzo said. “I’m going to have guys watch film, and when we get home tomorrow, it’s move on to Michigan. But we got to learn from this game because there were some things we did early that were not very good.
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