Tom Izzo responds to question about his 3-14 all-time record against Duke

After a loss to Duke in the Champions Classic, Michigan State fans are wondering why Tom Izzo just can’t manage to beat the Blue Devils consistently.

As two of the top programs in the country over the last couple decades, MSU and Duke are bound to run into one another, especially since they also face off in the Champs Classic once every couple of years. However, Duke is absolutely dominating the series with Tom Izzo at the helm of the Spartans, beating them in 14 of the 17 contests between the schools with Izzo at MSU.

As for why the losses vs. Duke keep piling up, Izzo was straight to the point about the difference.

“I’m just trying to think here. Probably because their players have played better and their coaches have coached better.”

A man who won’t make excuses. However, Izzo notes that he still likes his team and that most programs in the Big Ten would never even play Duke as many times as he and the Spartans have.

We’ve had battles with ’em for a lot of years. You know, there’s not many people in our league that will play ’em 15, 16, 17 times. So I’ll flip that too, since this is — I mean, I deserve what I’m getting. You know what, and ask me the question again, how is your team? I think we got a damn good team. I really do. We haven’t played very good. We haven’t played very good. We’re going to play good.”

At the end of the day, though, Coach Izzo says it’s up to him to get better results.

“But why am I 3-14? It’s probably 12 times more — I would like to know what their record is against a bunch of other people. They’re good, you know, give ’em credit, they’re good. Give me blame, because I’ve had different players and still lost so it’s got to be the coach. I would accept that.”

Tom Izzo even had a funny whip about just how bad Coach K beat him during their years coaching against one another.

“I sent Mike a text the other day: ‘I miss you on the bench.’ But, you know, he said something back about, you know, me being a favorite and a good guy. I said, ‘Hell, yeah, anybody that I beat as much as you beat me would be my favorite too.’ You know? So I understand that. 

The Michigan State coach did end on a positive, noting some of the Spartans’ recent successes vs. Duke.

“So, I’ll try to correct it, guys. Schedule Duke again. I just mean it for you guys, I’m going to try to do a better job of that. If you were around here, you know what the glass half full is? I think we’ve beaten them two out of the last three or three out of four? That’s probably a better record than most people have had against Duke.”

In fact, heading into Tuesday night’s matchup, MSu had won two of the last four vs. Duke, including an Elite Eight matchup were Cassius Winston and the 2019 Spartans ended the college careers of RJ Barrett and Zion Williamson in the Elite Eight.

Duke can have their 14 wins out of 17, but that Final Four victory is one that really made a difference.