Tom Izzo breaks down Michigan State's improvement defensively after win vs. Oakland

After a 4-5 start, Michigan State has gotten better over the past two games with a pair of much-needed wins. Tom Izzo is even more pleased about it because they have come in part from an improvement on defense which, in turn, has been a help to their offense.

Izzo spoke about the Spartans’ defensive approach from their last two victories in his postgame press conference after winning 79-62 over Oakland on Monday. He says the effort on that end has been a little more energized which has led to more stops and rebounds. That has then equaled to more opportunities for them to score on the fast break.

“I think there’s an energy level,” said Izzo. “I do think our defense has gotten better. So our offense gets better. Definitely, that stretch right before the half? I thought we had three or four breakaway layups, dunks, a three because of our defense and our rebounding.”

“Our defense gets our running game going,” Izzo said. “For 28 years, this has been defend, rebound, and run (university). We were starting to defend, not rebound, and not run. Then we defended and rebounded, started to run.”

Over their first nine games, Michigan State allowed 65 points per game and, specifically, 75.8 in the five losses. In that stretch to start the season, they lost the rebounding battle five teams with four of them coming in their defeats. That then impacted their ability to get out on the break which has proven to be vital for the Spartan offense as they’ve won that aspect in all but one game this season.

Now, over the last two, they’ve held Baylor and Oakland to an average of 63 points while they themselves had had two of their better offensive performances of the season. In the pair of wins over the Bears and Golden Grizzlies, Michigan State has won the rebounding margin by six, are plus six in turnovers, and have scored 20-plus fastbreak points in each.

For the Spartans to get out of their early hole, they’re going to have to follow a method that works for them. With two 14-plus point wins to show for it in their last pair of outing, Izzo knows his guys are beginning to piece that equation together for themselves.

“The last couple games? We’ve started to put it together,” said Izzo.

Izzo describes Tyson Walker’s value to Michigan State

Tom Izzo knows Tyson Walker is incredibly valuable to Michigan State as he’s currently making the most of his third season with the Spartans.

“You know, he’s a little over two years here,” Izzo said. “It’s a treat, though, to have a kid who hardly got a shot early. Didn’t let it get to him, didn’t bother him at halftime. Second half? We told him we gotta go do more. We set up that first play for him. He did a great job running it. Once he started hitting some shots? Then he was harder to guard.”

“He has been everything and more than I thought,” said Izzo. “A special guy, you know? Reminds me of Gary Harris back in the day. Plays both ends hard as hell and we even need him more than we did Gary offensively. So hats off to Tyson. Proud of him, happy for him.”

In their latest win over Oakland, Walker put up 14 points, two rebound, and five assists in 32 minutes.

Over the 10 games leading up to Monday’s victory, Walker averaged 20.1 points, three rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game. He was also shooting 52% from the field and 38.5% from beyond the arc.