CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — There might have been more important victories the past 30 years. A national championship and eight total Final Four appearances will do that. So will 10 Big Ten regular season and six postseason titles.
When Tom Izzo eventually looks back over his Hall of Fame career, though, there may not be one more representative of the Michigan State basketball program he has built than Saturday night at Illinois.
On the road. Expletive after expletive hurled at him and his players from the moment they stepped onto the State Farm Arena court. A 16-point deficit a little more than 11 minutes into the game.
Not giving up. Scrapping and clawing for loose balls and rebounds. Locking in defensively.
An epic comeback. A pivotal victory in the hunt for another conference championship. And another milestone moment for Izzo.
“I didn’t think we played that well early,” Izzo said after the 11th-ranked Spartans’ 79-65 rally, making him the Big Ten’s all-time winningest coach in league play. “And then when we got rolling, we just kept rolling. … I’m going to sure as hell enjoy that ride home.”
The win was Izzo’s 354th in conference play over his 30 years, which breaks a tie with Bob Knight for the most in Big Ten history. The Spartans (20-5, 11-3 Big Ten) lost Izzo’s first opportunity to claim the record alone with a 71-67 loss Tuesday to Indiana, Knight’s former program.
Izzo felt the sting of that defeat, calling it “one of my lowest in my career because of the way we played.” His players were united that they wanted to make the record happen as quickly as possible, knowing how difficult it is to win at Illinois (17-9, 9-7).
“It’s a very special moment,” said freshman Jase Richardson, who had 11 points. “He’s worked really hard for this over the past 30 years, and it’s kind of been just like this huge thing for him. We wanted to get him that record. So to be able to do it on hostile territory against a really tough team, it’s incredible.”
And in true Izzo fashion, it didn’t come easy.
Illinois, energized by its rabid fans still seething over the 80-78 loss at MSU on Jan. 19, scored the first six points and extended its lead to 31-15 with 8:46 left in the first half. The Spartans appeared in serious trouble.
But after making failed comeback attempts in losses to USC, UCLA and Indiana the past two-plus weeks, MSU snapped awake and closed the gap over a seven-minute stretch before the end of the first half. Richardson, junior forward Jaxon Kohler and sophomore forward Coen Carr combined for all of the Spartans’ points in a 22-7 run that cut it to a single point before Kasparas Jakucionis’ 3-pointer gave the Illini a 41-37 lead at intermission.
The momentum, though, had swung decidedly in MSU’s favor.
“We gotta bring our own energy, we gotta make our own energy, because the crowd’s not gonna provide it,” said Carr, who finished with 10 points. “That’s just how we how we have to do it when you’re away. We showed a fight. We showed our grit. We weren’t gonna lay down, and we weren’t gonna quit.”
Kohler hit his third of a career-high four 3-pointers as part of the Spartans’ 11-3 opening salvo to the second half that gave them their first lead. Back and forth the two foes went for the next 10 minutes.
Illinois’ last lead came with 6:46 to play on a Jakucionis layup on which MSU’s Jaden Akins was called for goaltending. However, after a Richardson three-point play gave MSU the lead, refs reviewed the Akins goaltending call during the media timeout with 3:49 to play, and the basket was negated. What appeared to be a two-point advantage expanded to four.
The Spartans scored the final 10 points from there, including a dagger 3-pointer from Kohler with 46.6 seconds to play that gave him a career-high 23 points to go with 10 rebounds. Including Jakucionis’ overturned layup, the Illini finished 0-for-19 shooting and scoreless in the final 8½ minutes.
Izzo has never had a losing season, with his worst a 16-16 finish in his 1995-96 debut. The Spartans have won 20 or more games in 13 of the past 14 seasons (the only outlier the pandemic-shortened 2020-21 campaign) and 24 of Izzo’s 30 years at the helm.
“We’re trying to take this approach where it’s still a game, we’re not worried about the record,” Kohler said of Izzo. “But us players, we want to win that for him, because we want to repay him for all that he’s done for us.”
As Illinois fans fled for the exits in the final minute, Spartan faithful behind MSU’s bench cheered for Izzo as he finished an on-court TV interview and jogged to the locker room to celebrate. He took note of their presence and cheers.
“I looked it up a couple weeks ago,” Izzo said later. “I think I’ve had 148 players that I’ve coached that have been part of these 350-some wins. I’ve had six and seven Presidents and ADs. I’ve had, I think, 18 assistant coaches. And trainers and different people.
“They’re all part of this thing. But the greatest one, for me … I think there were 6-million, 600-and-some-thousand people that helped me win 354 games — the fans in the stands. And that’s what I think is building a program. I’m proud of that.”
Richardson — whose father, Jason, won a title with Izzo in 2000 and went to another Final Four together in 2001 — greeted his coach with a hug and handshake outside the locker room before heading to the team bus.
“I need to get me some of those records,” he said to his coach with a laugh.
Before opening the door to the coaches’ room, Izzo looked back over his shoulder at Richardson.
“I’ll show you how to get there,” he said, disappearing to gather his belongings and return to East Lansing with another legacy moment in a legendary career.
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Tom Izzo’s record win straight out of his Michigan State blueprint
