It was a rough night for Michigan State basketball guard Kur Teng, and he barely even played.
The Spartans defeated the Oregon Ducks 68-52 on Wednesday, Jan. 20, with Teng turning in essentially a blank stat line over eight minutes of play. But it was his defensive effort that caught the ire of Spartans coach Tom Izzo during a timeout.
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“Kur, you can’t guard my mother,” Izzo said in the huddle before returning to the team’s gameplan.
A reporter asked Izzo after the game if he was joking when he made that comment, to which Izzo doubled down.
“I was serious as a jaybird,” he said. “I’m hoping that [the comment] ticks him off and maybe he’ll play better angry, because some of it was un-stomach-able and I haven’t said that much this whole year.”
Teng, a sophomore from Manchester, New Hampshire, has appeared in 19 games this season, averaging 7.3 points in just over 16 minutes per game. His game against Oregon was just his third scoreless game of the season, however, and the first game this season where he attempted zero shots.
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Izzo kept his serious tone throughout his answer about his comment towards Teng, but threw in a joke later on to soften the blow.
“Check USA TODAY tomorrow, him and my mom will be going at it in a nursing home,” he said.
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You can reach Christian at cromo@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Tom Izzo tells Michigan State’s Kur Teng ‘you can’t guard my mother’
