Michigan State coach Tom Izzo offered a concession speech after his fourth-ranked Spartans’ 77-66 loss to No. 7 Illinois Tuesday night in Assembly Hall.
“We got beat by a better team tonight,” Izzo said.
But Izzo wasn’t about to concede on a larger point–the Big Ten title race. Michigan State, on a quest for a rare fourth straight conference crown, slipped a game back of the Fighting Illini with only six to go.
“Get this straight–this team has a warrior mentality,” Izzo said. “These guys battled a very, very good, physical, tough, well-coached team. We’re going to try to win our next six games. We’ve been in this position before.”
Indeed, the Spartans are getting used to fighting their way through mobs of joyous students after a road loss. Tuesday they were swarmed by an orange-shirted mob as the final horn sounded. The same thing happened after the Spartans went down at Indiana and Ohio State.
It’s a big deal when the defending national champs lose. Michigan State (18-3, 7-3) has already lost as many Big Ten games as it did a year ago. But the Spartans start two freshmen, point guard Marcus Taylor and center Zach Randolph, and the Big Ten road is never kind to youngsters.
Taylor, a slithery ballhandler, stung Illinois with big jumpers early in the game. But he had only two assists against four turnovers. And his 1-for-6 shooting from beyond the three-point arc didn’t help.
Randolph, meanwhile, led both teams with eight rebounds. But Randolph took only four shots from the floor, making one. He struggled to find space against the Illini’s frontcourt.
Izzo said Randolph had trouble adapting to a couple of strategic wrinkles inserted Monday, one day after the Spartans played Purdue in East Lansing.
“In fairness to Zach, we changed up from what we normally do, and one day is not enough for a freshman to pick that up,” Izzo said.
Izzo knew it might be this way at times this season, as MSU tried to replace Mateen Cleaves, Morris Peterson and A.J. Granger, as battle-tested a trio as the Big Ten has seen in years. Taylor and Randolph are frighteningly talented. But this was easily the wildest crowd and most juiced-up opponent they had ever faced.
“That’s part of the problem,” Izzo said. “We’re a little young in certain ways. But no excuses.”
Indeed, inexperience was only part of the story. The Spartans played well enough to put Illinois in a 7-0 hole in the first four minutes and outscore the Illini 12-0 from the end of the first half and into the early minutes of the second to take a 42-36 lead.
Michigan State had put together runs of 24-0 and 22-0 in recent whippings of Michigan and Purdue. But the Spartans couldn’t find that other gear against Illinois. One reason might have been the Illini’s scrappy defense, which cut off the interior passing lanes and forced State’s guards to fire from afar.
The Spartans shoot the fewest three-pointers in the Big Ten, and it’s rarely augers well when they begin heaving from beyond the arc. Heaving is a nice way of describing Tuesday night’s effort: The Spartans hit only 3-of-18, and Taylor and Jason Richardson each went 1-for-6.
“They did a great job of trying to keep us off the blocks and really limiting our touches down low,” Andre Hutson said. “They definitely took it to us. They were the more aggressive team.
“We just weren’t prepared. Illinois is definitely a contender to win the national championship this year. We just didn’t come with what we needed to come with tonight.”
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Michigan State may not have wanted this one as badly as Illinois did. A hint came with MSU down 67-59 with 2 minutes 17 seconds to go. Illinois’ Cory Bradford missed a shot, and there was a scramble for the rebound under the bucket. As the ball bounced over the end line, one of the Illini saved it and whipped it to the top of the key. It eventually wound up in the hands of Frank Williams, who stormed to the basket and drew a foul on Randolph, his fourth.
MSU, the nation’s leading rebounding team, usually comes up with loose caroms. Had the Spartans grabbed that one, they could have drawn within six points on the next possession and perhaps put some pressure on Illinois. But Williams knocked down the foul shots and Illinois was safe.
“When big plays needed to be made, they had a couple of guys that made them,” Izzo said.
As troubling as this loss was, it doesn’t eliminate MSU from contention for its fourth straight Big Ten title. The Spartans’ toughest remaining games, against Iowa and Wisconsin, are in the Breslin Center, where MSU has won 41 straight.
The Illini, meanwhile, have to visit Purdue, which has beaten Illinois nine straight times, as well as make trips to Indiana and Ohio State, both of which flattened the Spartans.
If MSU and Illinois tie for first, the Big Ten would award trophies to both schools. But the Spartans are going to have to grow up fast, and it is running out of time.
“They’re going to have to get better,” Izzo said of his younger players, “and realize one, two or three mistakes will cost you games. They’ll grow.”