Even with a dominant win, Izzo dissects missed layups, defensive lapses, and the relentless pursuit of perfection.
Postgame press conferences with Tom Izzo are like opening an old NBA card box—you never know what you’re going to get, but you’re locked in the entire time.
Even after Michigan State held a 30-point lead for much of the night and cruised to a 92–69 win over Toledo on Tuesday, satisfaction was nowhere to be found. In his 31st season, Izzo remains exactly who he’s always been: relentlessly demanding, brutally honest, and constantly chasing improvement.
Before taking questions, Izzo opened with his own blunt assessment.
“Pretty damn good first half. Not elite. If Kohler makes some layups, he has the best half of basketball maybe ever at this program. We continue to miss layups and it’s starting to make me angry… Didn’t think our bigs, as much as they did offensively, did as much as they needed to do. Too many missed layups—it’s mind boggling to me right now.”
Despite the frustrations, Izzo acknowledged some positives.
“Take the win, outrebounding them by 30 is big… Still showed some immaturity… I want to thank our crowd. Early game and I was a little worried, but you look up and the corners are being filled. Thank you fans—you did a better job in the second half than we did.”
Kur Teng Provides a Spark#
One of the bright spots came from Kur Teng, who knocked down four three-pointers and showed progress defensively.
“Kur played better. It’s a musical chairs thing. He was ready to shoot and made some big-time shots. Divine and Coen want to get more out of them. I was pleased with Kur—his defense is getting better.”
Layup Issues Continue to Frustrate#
Michigan State’s missed layups remain a recurring theme, and Izzo made it clear it’s not accidental.
“That’s the scouting report. But we’re not using the backboards. Jaxson missed two in a row that were point blank. No doubt in the Duke game it cost us. Almost cost us at Penn State. It’ll be a good film session for me tonight.”
Fatigue? Izzo Isn’t Buying It#
When asked about players feeling worn down amid high-level competition, Izzo dismissed the idea.
“We have nobody that played that many minutes. Maybe they should get rest that night. They need to do their job and let me do my job. Once the Big Ten starts it’s constant. If they’re tired, maybe I’ll give them Christmas off.”
Halftime Accountability and Slim Margins#
Izzo took some responsibility for a sluggish second half but pointed toward leadership as well.
“My message was that coaches need to be better at halftime, but the captains need to be better too. I took the blame, but captains need to get together and figure out why these games are sleeping away.”
He didn’t shy away from calling out turnovers and toughness.
“When you have Coen get four turnovers, Coop three turnovers, our big guys getting the ball knocked out of their hands—they need to get tougher.”
Michigan State finished minus-11 in turnovers, with Coen Carr matching Toledo’s entire team.
“I was disappointed. They were scrappier than we were.”
McCulloch, Minutes, and Health#
Redshirt-Freshman Jesse McCulloch impressed with a perfect shooting night, eight rebounds, and four blocks.
“He had some good rebounds and a couple of blocks. Eight rebounds is pretty good. Need to get Cam back to where he was before he was hurt—we need Cam too.”
Izzo also hinted that heavy minutes for key players could be a factor.
“Maybe Jaxon and Coop are playing too many minutes. We’ll figure that out. Maybe that’s our fault.”
Christmas Isn’t the Distraction#
With the holidays approaching, Izzo wasn’t worried about focus slipping.
“I’m not worried about the distractions of Christmas. There’s so many other distractions for these kids. The only good thing about Twitter—it adds distractions so Christmas doesn’t even distract them.”
Defending the Bench Contributors#
Izzo wrapped up by defending walk-ons and bench shooters like the Walton twins and Sanders.
“You guys have gotten soft. I open practice up and you guys only come at the end. If you came and watched practice, instead of sitting on your phones, those kids can really shoot the ball. Brandon’s been sick and hadn’t practiced until today—then he went and knocked one in. They’re really important on this team.”
Even in a comfortable win, Izzo’s message was clear: winning isn’t the goal—getting better is.