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With Michigan on the clock, Michigan State and Tom Izzo eager to hit practice hard

On3 imageby:Jim Comparoni•01/04/23•

JimComparoni

On3 image
Tom Izzo is eager to wring out more progress from his team during practice this week, ahead of Saturday's game against Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio / Getty Images).

East Lansing, Mich. – Now, Michigan is on the clock. But Michigan State coach Tom Izzo wasn’t ready to talk about the Wolverines, at least not immediately after the Spartans’ 74-56 victory over Nebraska on Tuesday.

“What time is it?” Izzo said when asked about Saturday’s upcoming game against Michigan. “I’ll talk about Michigan after midnight. If someone wants to call me, I’ll talk about Michigan then. But I’m going to enjoy this win. I’m not going to talk about Michigan.”

Michigan State split with the Wolverines last year. The rivalry has been mild and somewhat friendly between Izzo and Michigan head coach Juwan Howard. But last year, Izzo had a brief jawing match with Michigan center Hunter Dickinson during the Wolverines’ victory in Ann Arbor.

In December Dickinson sounded off about Michigan State on a Barstool podcast.

“They’re belittled so much by us,” Dickinson said. “I think it’s honestly Michigan fans’ fault because we belittle them so much. Like, we’re just so much better than them in everything. You only go to Michigan State if you don’t get into Michigan.”

So Dickinson will undoubtedly be ready for the rivalry, and Breslin Center fans will be ready for him.

As for the Spartans, they seem to be rounding into shape, too.

Michigan State is 10-4, 2-1 in the Big Ten, with five straight wins.

Michigan is 8-5 and 2-0 in the Big Ten. 

The Wolverines have played tough against quality opposition, losing by 2 to No. 3 Virginia, by 4 to No. 19 Kentucky and by 4 to North Carolina.

However, Michigan dropped an embarrassing 63-61 decision to Central Michigan on Dec. 29, and struggled to squeak wins against Lipscomb, Ohio University and Eastern Michigan.

But Michigan is coming off arguably its best performance of the season, an 81-46 victory over Maryland on Sunday. Michigan will play host to Penn State on Wednesday prior to beginning preparation for the Spartans.

Judging by Izzo’s tone on Tuesday night, Michigan State’s preparation for the Wolverines began shortly after the postgame meal. 

“We’re going to practice and practice and practice and hopefully get our team ready to play,” Izzo said, glowing about the fact that spring semester is not yet in session, thus his team isn’t bound by NCAA-mandated limitations on practice and meeting time. 

An arduous November and early-December schedule left the Spartans tired and hampered by lack of self-scout practice time. But that subsided between Dec. 11 and Jan. 2, with the Spartans playing just two games in that span.

Michigan State was well-rested, but a little rusty in victories over Oakland University (Dec. 21) and Buffalo (Dec. 30). But, perhaps for the first time this season, Michigan State looked rested and precise during Tuesday’s victory over Nebraska – perhaps a good sign heading into Saturday’s rivalry game. 

Malik Hall returned to the court on Friday against Buffalo after missing eight games with a stress reaction. 

Hall had a quiet game against Nebraska, but delivered five important points on consecutive possessions to answer a mini Husker run midway through the second half. 

“Malik won’t practice every day, yet,” Izzo said. “We won’t be beating the hell out of guys, but we will be doing more film work and spend more time on things and take advantage of cutting up this film. What did we do right? What did we do wrong? And cutting up some of our opponent’s (film).”

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