MINNEAPOLIS – Tom Izzo kind of suggested it’s Michigan’s fault that his player kicked a Minnesota defender between his legs during Wednesday night’s game.
Izzo said after Wednesday night’s game against Minnesota that he believes Jeremy Fears, Michigan State’s star point guard, is being baited because of the high-profile comments made by Michigan head coach Dusty May.
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Though Izzo said it’s Fears’ fault he took the bait, he also said multiple times that “that’s what happens” when comments like May’s are made publicly.
Here’s a breakdown of what happened.
What happened during Friday’s game
After Michigan’s 83-71 win at the Breslin Center on Friday, one of the hottest topics for Izzo and May was a series of plays involving Fears.
Videos circulating online showed an exchange between Fears and Michigan star Yaxel Lendeborg. Their feet got tangled up during a play, and some believe Fears tried to trip Lendeborg intentionally.
May is one of them. He made that clear during his Monday press conference.
What May, Izzo said
“There was a play where Fears appeared to trip Yaxel. Is that beyond --” the reporter started.
“Appeared?” May interjected. “I mean, it wasn’t an illusion, right?”
“That seems like beyond basketball, I guess,” the reporter continued. “Beyond a basketball play. Is that something the Big Ten should look at?”
“I think there were several plays that are very dangerous, and I am incredibly proud of our guys for the responses they had to some of those situations,” May said. “Incredibly proud for their self-control, their constraint, and their impulse control. I’ll leave it at that. But they’re not isolated incidents.”
The next reporter said, “Now I kind of want to go more in on that.”
“The film’s there,” May said. “Forty minutes of it. It’s not hard to find.”
“Have you reached out to their staff or?” the reporter asked.
“It’s not hard to find,” May said. “I have not reached out to their staff, no.”
Izzo was asked about these comments by May during his own Monday presser.
“I’m not going to get into that,” Izzo said. “I have no idea, but I do know that I thought there were a couple plays the other way, too, like jumping into a guy and getting a foul when it was a complete joke.
“This is what it’s supposed to be. It’s supposed to be -- and you know what? Michigan’s over. I’m moving onto Minnesota. No insult to you. I don’t care what Dusty says. I don’t care what they say. I don’t care.
“There’s some things Jeremy did I addressed on. But him and their point guard were going at it pretty good. That’s what happens in games like this, so if anybody did anything dirty, tell him to call me and I would be more than happy to address it. If it was physical play, that’s the way that game’s always going to be."
What happened in Minnesota
On Wednesday night, Michigan State went to Minnesota and took the court for the first time since the Michigan game.
It was a tightly contested game, and at one point in the second half, Fears got fouled up top by Langston Reynolds. Replay showed after the contact by Reynolds, Fears brought up his right leg and kicked Reynolds up between his legs.
The officials reviewed the play and issued a technical foul on Fears, who was benched for a couple of minutes.
This, of course, led to internet sleuths going back through the entire game and finding other replays of Fears appearing to swing at Reynolds out of bounds and potentially try to trip him underneath the basket.
Minnesota ultimately won the game despite a furious late comeback led by Coen Carr.
What Tom Izzo said
After the game, Izzo was asked if he thinks teams are trying to bait Fears because of the high-profile discussion about his tactics.
“Yeah, well when somebody comes out and publicly says something about a guy that sometimes happens, but that’s Jeremy’s fault,” Izzo said. “I made sure I cleared all that up. I think the officials knew it. I talked to them.
“I did not see what happened on the play. I saw him get pushed and I saw his leg come up and I didn’t think he hit anybody but if he did then he deserves it, I guess.
“But if he didn’t, then I question it. So are they baiting him? Of course. Of course. When you go public with something, you should get baited, and it’s his fault, and I make no bones about it.
“I sat him for awhile and I -- I don’t even know if I’m going to start him the next game, but I stuck up for him to because what happened in the last game -- I’ll just say what happened in the last game, the way that was handled was poorly too, so that starts everything, but Jeremy’s got to grow up a little bit, but at least he played harder. I’m worried about my other two guys not playing hard enough, three guys. So a little bit of everything.”
Michigan and Michigan State will meet again at the Crisler Center on the final game of the season.