Michigan State coach Tom Izzo reached out to Matt Painter after Purdue's upset loss

Columbus, Ohio – A few days ago, Tom Izzo talked about the time in 2010 when he received word that Kansas, the No. 1 seed in Michigan State’s bracket, had been upset by Northern Iowa. 

Michigan State was set to play Maryland the next day in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament in Spokane, Wash. 

When No. 1 seed Kansas was shocked by Northern Iowa, it opened up the bracket for everyone else in the region – including the Spartans. 

Michigan State ended up beating Maryland, on a last second-shot by Korie Lucious, and then beat Northern Iowa and Tennessee the following weekend in St. Louis and landed Izzo his sixth Final Four. 

The Kansas loss created opportunities and sparked imagination. 

But that wasn’t the feeling on Friday night for Izzo and his people when they heard No. 1 seed Purdue was on the ropes against No. 16 seed Fairleigh Dickinson, here in Columbus.

“We were in a meeting last night and somebody came in and they were screaming down at the lobby,” Izzo said. “We watched the last :10 seconds of that game. I’m not going to lie to you – I just met the Farleigh Dickinson coach, great guy – but we all felt bad.”

They felt bad that Purdue, a Big Ten rival, had lost. 

“And they are in our bracket and we felt bad,” Izzo said. “I think that hit home to some guys.”

It wasn’t just that Purdue lost, it was that Matt Painter lost. Izzo and Painter have had some classic on-court wars and more than a few recruiting battles. But they’re on good terms. 

Izzo, ever the one to reach out to wounded peers in the coaching profession, took a few minutes out of Second Round game prep to contact Painter.

“With Matt last night, I sent him a text, and talked a little bit,” Izzo said.

Izzo doesn’t know what it’s like to lose as a No. 1 seed to a 16, but he’s been close, having lost as a No. 2 seed to No. 15 Middle Tennessee State in 2016, and having been an assistant for No. 1 seeded Michigan State when the Spartans, led by Steve Smith, were taken to overtime by No. 16 seed Murray State, nearly becoming the first No. 1 seed to lose to a No. 16 since the bracket expanded in 1985. Spartan fans over the age of 40 still have nightmares about Popeye Jones.

Virginia eventually broke that dubious barrier in 2018 when the Cavaliers became the first No. 1 seed to lose to a No. 16 when they were taken down by Maryland Baltimore County.

“You watch Fairleigh Dickinson and some of those teams and you see the enjoyment and enthusiasm that they have,” Izzo said. “It’s kind of refreshing in some ways. I’ve been on that side. And I’ve been on the other side. That’s what I told Matt. Against Middle Tennessee State that night, I thought we played really well, we shot really well. It’s just that somebody else plays a little better and that’s going to happen sometimes in this crazy tournament and it’s getting crazier.”

On Friday night, Purdue became the second No. 1 seed to lose to a No. 16. There are not many people or coaches are on Painter’s level who would be able to commiserate. But Izzo could come close.

“Until something happens to you, it never hits home the same way,” Izzo said. “I try to never tell somebody I know what they’re going through if I haven’t been through it.

“I felt like I wasn’t an expert at it but unfortunately I know what he was going through because it happened to me, with good kids,” Izzo said in reference to the Middle Tennessee State loss. “There is nothing like going through it. The second closest is seeing it from teams or people you respect and know. 

“With Virginia, Joey Hauser’s brother played there; Tony Bennett is a guy I’ve known my whole life and I worked at his dad’s camps and I don’t think there is a better human being on the planet. Good kids. Experienced kids. It happened.

“Matt Painter has done an incredible job. He is a hell of a coach. I know their players. Good guys. I recruited some of their players and didn’t get them. Our players known their players. When something happens like that, I think it hits home harder. 

“Right now, we are in a day and age when nobody thinks anything happens to them. They’re all super men. They have all been told most of their lives how good they are.”

Izzo’s players don’t have to worry about upsets the rest of the weekend. The Spartans are the underdog against No. 2 seeded Marquette when the two square off at 5:15 p.m. on Sunday in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament at Nationwide Arena.

The Spartans battled through a halftime tie to beat USC 72-62 in the First Round on Friday, one week after being upset by Ohio State in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament. 

“Seeing it happen the way it has happened and unfolded in both the Big Ten Tournament and this tournament, I think the sense of urgency ramps up,” Izzo said. “And they realize: You lose, you go home and you hang up your shoes and you do not play again.”