Michigan State Head Coach Tom Izzo is already turning the page from an overtime escape against Rutgers, warning the Spartans they’ll need their best against Michigan.
The Spartans return to the East Lansing practice facility unscathed after their narrow win over Rutgers on Jan. 27. The focus now switches to Michigan, who just beat the previously unbeaten Nebraska. Izzo says Michigan is the most talented team they’ve faced.
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“I think it’s the best talented team we faced and they’re well-coached, they’re talented, and they’ve got a little bit of everything,” said Izzo. “They got the size inside, they got good a point guard, they got some guys that can make shots, they’ve got depth.”
“That’s a good basketball team we’re playing. A very good basketball team, and I know this, we can’t play poorly and win. We can’t play average and win, we’re going to have to be on top of our game to win a game like this.”
Izzo says the point guard matchup between Jeremy Fears and Michigan’s Elliot Cadeau should be interesting.
“When you’ve got two point guards that are smaller point guards and kind of run their team, I think it’ll be an interesting matchup,” said Izzo. “Jeremy’s playing some of his best basketball, Cadeau must be playing pretty well too so that’ll be a good matchup.”
Considering possible foul trouble in the rivalry game, Izzo says the game will likely be decided by the depth of both teams.
“They’re probably the most talented team that we’ll face this year as far as seven, eight deep, and we’ve played some talented teams, that’s a compliment to them. It’s not going to come down to one guy or one-on-one or anything like that, it’s going to be a collection of probably 10 players on both teams that have to play because you never know about fouls, you never know about what happens and then we’ll see what happens.”
Michigan and Michigan State’s basketball programs seemingly have two different approaches when it comes to building their teams. Michigan has brought in a major influx of talent over the past few years with six players joining through the transfer portal in the 2024-2025 season and four more players transferring in ahead of 2025-2026.
Michigan State tends to focus on building a roster through high school recruiting rather than through the transfer portal. The Spartans only added two transfers ahead of this season in Trey Fort and Kaleb Glenn, who is out for the season with a torn patellar injury.
Izzo admits there are different ways to building a roster but says he’s comfortable with the way Michigan State is building its team.
“A lot of ways to skin a cat,” said Izzo. “Everybody’s got their own way of doing it. Everybody should do what they’re comfortable with doing. I’ve so given up on what college basketball is like after last week’s latest. I just kind of worry about my 15 guys and everybody does it a different way, and if you have success, it was the right way. And if you fail, it was the wrong way. I mean, that’s the way you guys would write it. That’s the where fans would take it. But I have to be comfortable in my own skin. I’m very comfortable in the way we do it and we’ll see what it does for us.”
The storied rivalry has had its heated moments over the past few years including last season where a scuffle initiated between Michigan State’s Tre Holloman and Michigan’s Phat Phat Brooks and L.J. Cason. There was controversy over whether or not Michigan’s players should’ve been standing on the Spartan logo at half court during senior night, due to Michigan State’s tradition of seniors kissing the Spartan logo near the end of the game. Izzo reminded reporters that the rivalry remains heated, but there is a level of respect for one another.
“I hate them,” said Izzo. “Of course I hate them, they hate us.”
“You think I’m getting Valentine’s Day cards or birthday cards? I mean, it’s the way it is, guys. It’s no different in any way in America. The key word is respect, and I do respect them a lot. So that’s all that matters. When I die, I don’t care if anybody likes me or not, I care if they respect me. So that’s the way I look at the rivalry, you know? I had my time when I hated them and didn’t respect them, and it cost me. So I got smarter at younger days, and now if the day comes when you like your rival, it’s time to get out. That’s for anybody in any sport, but if the day comes and you don’t respect your rival, shame on you. And I do have great respect for them and what they’ve accomplished and what they’re doing but I like my team too.”
Another key matchup in this game is the battle of the bigs. Michigan’s Aday Mara and Morez Johnson will matchup against Michigan State’s Jaxon Kohler and Carson Cooper. Izzo says his bigs need to stay out of foul trouble while maintaining dominance on the boards.
“Stay out of foul trouble,” said Izzo. “That’ll be one thing important. Realize you got to get the ball inside, outside a little bit more. They have some shot blocking. They rebound the ball pretty well. We rebound the ball very well. That’ll a battle in itself.”
In a post-game interview, Izzo said the Spartans were ‘lucky’ in their 88-79 win against the Scarlet Knights where they trailed for most of the game. The Spartans may need more than luck to overcome the level of raw talent Michigan presents.
“I can only say that to win championships or to win a lot of games, you’ve gotta be good,” said Izzo. “But then, every now and then, you gotta be lucky. Tonight, we’ll put that one on lucky’s side. We were lucky. Can we learn from lucky? Sure, we’ll see if we can. We got a quick turnaround now. We’re gonna try to learn on the way home on the plane, I’m gonna have guys watching film. When we get home tomorrow it’s move on to Michigan, but we got to learn from this game, because there was some things we did early that were not very good.”
The number one seed and bragging rights are on the line in the first of the rivals’ two matchups this season. The game takes place at the Breslin Center on Friday, Jan. 30 at 8:00 p.m.