Tom Izzo pleased with defense, laments offensive 'lulls' in first half vs. Maryland

Michigan State started off a Tuesday evening Big Ten showdown against Maryland at home with a smothering 15-0 run to being the game. And while the Terrapins clawed back into the game and trailed by just nine at the half, MSU head coach Tom Izzo couldn’t help but be pleased with the way his team defended.

Maryland scored just 22 points in the first 20 minutes. But while MSU had a chance to blow the game wide open, the Spartans offense stalled, too, scoring just 31 in the half. Izzo chalked it up to some young, inexperienced lineups playing minutes due to foul trouble for starting point guard Tyson Walker.

“Well I was really happy the way we came out, offensively and defensively. I thought we did a great job defensively, too. Just started turning the ball over a little bit,” Izzo said to ESPN’s Myron Medcalf. “We had some bad lineups in there, mostly because Tyson was in foul trouble. We’ve gotta do a better job of that. But hey, it’s a good team. We did a hell of a job defensively. And I thought when were moving the ball, we did a great job offensively.”

As for what can help the Spartans ailing offense? Move the ball and get into sets, according to Izzo. That, and prodding the secondary ball handling guards like AJ Hoggard to do a bit more.

“We have to do a better job of running our offense,” Izzo said. We have those lulls, as I was talking to your people about earlier. When we go like three four minutes without scoring. I think we gotta get AJ to do a little better job. We had some freshmen in then and that hurt a bit.”

Tom Izzo reacts to opportunity to play Rutgers in Madison Square Garden

Rutgers (16-7) took down Michigan State (14-9) 61-55 at Madison Square Garden Friday to get back into the top 25. Spartans coach Tom Izzo relished the opportunity to play in the mecca of basketball.

Despite the loss, it was a great experience for Michigan State. However, Izzo noted it was still an advantage for Rutgers since New York City is just a quick train ride away from campus.

Izzo spoke in detail about what it meant to play against the No. 24 Scarlet Knights over the weekend.

“Yeah, I think it’s an awesome idea,” Izzo said of playing at Madison Square Garden. “I’m not sure, it’s really a coin flip for others. You know, (Rutgers has) one of the toughest places to play. But we’ve done that a little bit out of the Detroit (area). I don’t know how far is this from Rutgers …  But that’s close. I mean, we’re 90 miles (Detroit) and we played some big non conference games down there …

“It’s great for our fans. It’s a little bit good for recruiting. I think this will help recruiting but let’s face it, there’s not a pro guy, you ask him where his favorite place to play is, it’s Madison Square Garden.”

Izzo noted how Madison Square Garden was the gold standard to play basketball.

“And I told the guys that,” Izzo said. “You get a chance to play basketball (here) and you kind of hope these guys play in so many different venues and so many different things, I don’t think they look at it the same as me. I was more excited than that. Playing up in northern Michigan on the banks of Lake Superior wasn’t the same as Madison Square Garden, but I do think it’s good for the league. 

“I do think it’s good for Rutgers … I thought they had a hell of a crowd there … But I think for Ben Ten basketball, it’s to get you in the major media city and so I think it’s good.”