EAST LANSING — It is an intense and yet introspective crossroad for Tom Izzo.
His frustration over three straight second-half defensive letdowns, he admitted, overshadowed just how well No. 12 Michigan State basketball performed offensively in Wednesday’s 90-85 win over Penn State. It comes from the perspective the 30-year dean of Big Ten coaches sees a bigger picture with his team.
And he believes these Spartans have what it takes to continue rolling. If they take care of the details.
“If I’m upset about things, it’s because they happened the game before and the game before that. So it’s never one thing,” Izzo said after practice Friday. “And that’s what we’re trying to get through to these guys, to be different. It’s a process.”
The next step in that progression comes Sunday. A chance to win an 11th straight game. A nationally televised noon tipoff on CBS. A visit from orange-and-white hot No. 20 Illinois.
It will be a measuring stick for Izzo to see the improvement in the past 2½ months from MSU (15-2, 6-0 Big Ten) in both mental and physical toughness, with an opportunity to continue toward a high ceiling Izzo believes is within reach.
“As a team, it’s a game I’d like to see us pass the test on how we play, because there’s just too much season left …,” Izzo said. “What it is, it’s important we play well. And then ‘well’ might not be good enough.”
Despite allowing 40-plus points in the second half of each of their past three victories, a defensive dip that has Izzo’s full focus, the Spartans also averaged 81.1 points against Washington, Northwestern and Penn State. MSU is outscoring opponents 84-65.5 in Big Ten play, and its 81.8 points per game for the season rank 41st in the country. That would be the highest team scoring average in Izzo’s Hall of Fame tenure and the Spartans’ best since the Scott Skiles-led 1985-86 team posted 83.1 points a contest.
READ MORE: Tom Izzo says Michigan State has a problem despite 10th straight win
And MSU is doing it while ranking 339th out of 355 Division I teams in 3-point shooting percentage (28.7%). All 10 regulars are averaging 4.5 or more points per game, with seven scoring at least 7.5.
“I just feel like we’re scoring a lot of different ways,” said senior Jaden Akins, the only Spartan averaging in double figures at 14.2 points a game. “If our 3s are falling, then we’re dangerous. But we can go inside to the post, we can slash, we can get to the free-throw line. So I feel like we do a lot of different things.”
Most coaches would be overjoyed about that balance. And it’s not that Izzo isn’t pleased. But the defensive-minded coach realizes points can dry up, and it led to him spouting about the breakdowns MSU had against the Nittany Lions that allowed them to rip off 49 points in the second half and turn it into a close game down the stretch.
He expressed his concern and anger in his postgame news conference Wednesday after he delivered the same dour messages to his players in the locker room moments earlier.
“I feel like the majority of the time, he tells us what we need to hear, whether we want to or not,” junior forward Jaxon Kohler said after Friday’s practice. “And I feel like that’s something that, in the moment, it could be frustrating, annoying, whatever. But in the bigger picture, you can’t be anything but thankful for it.
“He just tells you straight up, ‘Hey, you didn’t play good,’ or ‘Hey, we need more out of you,’ or like this or that. In the moment, it’s really annoying. But you’re really thankful that he told you that, because there might not be people in the future to tell you that and you’re wondering what’s going on. But he tells you straight up. And he’s also there to help you get to where you need to be, because he really cares about where you end up by the time you’re done here.”
Izzo’s approach over three decades always has walked the razor-thin line between being critical while not criticizing. Kohler said it takes younger players within MSU’s program a few years to begin to see where he is coming from when he gets vocal and animated about his concerns.
“When you’re around here long enough, when you think you have a good game, it’s always like, ‘Good job. See you at practice tomorrow,’” Kohler said with a laugh. “But for real, it is really kind of like a muscle memory thing. It’s something that you kind of learn to expect. And it’s honestly for the team’s benefit, but then also it’s for your benefit. It’s to your benefit to learn like, hey, no matter how good of a game I have, I can’t become complacent, I can’t relax, I can’t get stagnant. And if I have a bad game, you can’t get too low.
“You have to have the same exact mentality. I need to come back, I need to do better, I need to consistently get better every day.”
The Illini (13-4, 5-2) enter having won six of seven as the nation’s best in rebounding margin (12.4) and defensive rebounds (13.29). It ranks second in rebounds per game (45.47).
Izzo is impressed with the skill of coach Brad Underwood’s rebuilt roster at the defensive end (seventh in 3-point defense at 27.8%) and on offense (fifth at 87.3 points and sixth in scoring margin at 20 points per victory).
“We’re not as good as 10 (wins) in a row, we’re not as good as undefeated in the league. We’re a good basketball team that’s looking to become great,” Izzo said. “Games like this, I mean, I told them how lucky they are. When I first got the job, I begged for games like this — CBS in the house, a prime-time game, two big teams. The last couple years, we haven’t had that as much. So I said take advantage of the opportunity you got.”
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: What makes Tom Izzo special for MSU? He’ll tell you to your face
