Tom Izzo jokes about record against Mike Krzyzewski ahead of final meeting

Directly following Michigan State’s 74-73 win over Davidson in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, head coach Tom Izzo appeared in a great mood as he joked with CBS sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson about her questions and his answers.

After evaluating his team’s play on the night, Tracy Wolfson reminded Tom Izzo of his all-time record against Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski ahead of their final meeting on Sunday in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

“So I’m 3-13 and you ask me what my early thoughts are?” Izzo asked Wolfson. She quickly corrected him, saying he is 3-12 against Krzyzewski heading into the 16th matchup.

“Oh, 3-12? Well that’s even better,” Izzo responded. “You know what, Mike’s done so much. It’s going to be a privilege to be in the game. It’s going to be great for fans, it’s going to be great for CBS, it’s going to be great for you and I hope we play better than we have most of the times.

Tom Izzo and Mike Krzyzewski are both Hall of Fame coaches who have cemented their place in college basketball history but continue chasing the ultimate prize in the 2022 season. Duke will enter the game as favorites, entering as the 2-seed ready to face the 7-seed. However, perhaps Izzo’s new joking mood will make the difference this time.

Jay Bilas on Duke’s NCAA Tournament chances

One of the biggest question this March is how Duke will fare in Mike Krzyzewski’s last NCAA Tournament. Ahead of the ACC Tournament championship, Jay Bilas addressed the Blue Devils’ chances of winning another national title.

Bilas said Saturday Duke has a strong chance of sending Coach K out on top. He pointed to the depth of the Blue Devils’ roster and how they have multiple weapons, meaning no one player carries the load on offense.

“They can win the whole thing,” Bilas said on SportsCenter. “I think they’re one of eight teams you would put as prohibitive favorites to win the title. But Duke has a lot of versatility. They’ve got shot-blocking and shot-changing with Mark Williams inside, who’s the ACC Defensive Player of the Year and in the running for national player of the year. He really changed at the end of the game when Kam McGusty drove in, he wound up walking because of his presence.

“But they also have four or five different guys that can get you 20 or 25 in a given game. That’s been proven over the last seven or eight games with the multiple weapons they have with not only Paolo Banchero but Wendell Moore Jr., Jeremy Roach has been coming off the bench and putting up great performances and Trevor Keels had, I think, 27 against Pittsburgh. AJ Griffin just put up 21 last night. They’ve got a number of different playmakers, and that makes them really difficult to guard.”