Tom Izzo addresses his technical foul against Minnesota

Tom Izzo is no stranger to technical fouls. In the second half of Michigan State’s 76-66 win over Minnesota on Thursday, the Spartans’ head coach added another to his collection. After the game, Izzo pulled back the curtain on the play.

“I told the guy Happy New Year, and he didn’t think it was funny,” Izzo said with a smile. “No, there were some calls that I thought were questionable both ways, but this verticality thing drives me up the wall. We missed one right before the half that I know they missed on a layup. But they can miss them, but not on layups.

“Then, they called the same thing on the other end, and I said something. In my mind, he laughed at me, and I told him what I thought of it. And yet I walked away, I didn’t appreciate the other guy giving me a T[echnical foul]. I thought I deserved the T and he deserved what I said so that’s even. Except, in those even and odd things, we lose because they have the final say. So, my mistake.”

At least, Izzo still has his humor. Of course, it’s easier to smile after the game when your team pulls out a win. With the victory, the Spartan have won two games in a row, previously defeating Rutgers.

Michigan State secures win in grueling battle

In their triumph over Minnesota, the Spartans’ defense was spectacular, squeezing 19 turnovers out of the Golden Gophers. Additionally, Michigan State was dominant down low. MSU nearly scored four times more points in the paint than Minnesota.

Despite Michigan’s State impressive statistics, it wasn’t a lopsided contest. With four minutes left in the game, the teams were tied. Then, Michigan State guard Tyson Walker flipped a switch. The 6-foot-1 graduate student scored 12 of his 21 points in the final four minutes of the game to secure the victory for his Spartans.

While Izzo was able to joke after the game, he still wasn’t satisfied with his team’s performance.

“It’s the time of year where you have to do two things, you got to win games and you got to be progressing in every game. You got to be getting better every game. We won a game but we did not progress, and I was disappointed.

“We didn’t do some things early and that’s disappointing and I will stay disappointed in it and be happy about the win.”

Michigan State won’t have long to reflect on its mistakes. On Sunday, the Spartans will square off against Maryland at noon ET. The game will broadcast on CBS.