Izzo proud of Sunday's defensive effort

After Sunday’s win against Wisconsin, MSU men’s basketball head coach Tom Izzo couldn’t stop gushing about his team’s defensive performance.

A day later, Izzo was still downright giddy about the job his team did against the Badgers, especially in the second half when the Spartans limited their opponents to just two field goals in the final 12:30.

“Defensively in that last game, I thought we were really, really, really good for a long part of that game,” Izzo said Monday during his weekly press conference. “Not just in the second half.”

For the game, MSU held Wisconsin to 31.3 percent shooting from the field. The Badgers, who predicate their offense mostly on inside scoring, mustered just eight baskets inside the arc.

Izzo attributed Wisconsin’s offensive struggles to an improved defensive focus and better overall execution by the Spartans. But he also cited the individual heroics of his defensive catalyst as a reason.

“I thought (Travis) Walton was unbelievable on (Joe) Krabbenhoft the first half,” Izzo said. “Then we switched him over to (Trevon) Hughes in the second half and I thought he was equally unbelievable.”

With games against Purdue and Wisconsin behind the team, it feels like a raging storm finally has passed through East Lansing.

But Izzo knows there could be another rainy day ahead if the Spartans underestimate Iowa on Wednesday at Breslin Center.

“It doesn’t get any easier with Iowa coming in,” Izzo said. “Being a very good defensive team and kind of not knowing what the status of some of their players are (makes) it a little harder to prepare for who we’re going to be facing.”

Like the Spartans, Iowa (14-13 overall, 4-10 Big Ten) has been beleaguered by injuries this season. Reserve guard Anthony Tucker, starting forward Cyrus Tate and starting guard Jeff Peterson have all suffered injuries that have forced head coach Todd
Lickliter to constantly shuffle his rotation.

Peterson has missed two straight games with a strained hamstring he suffered Feb. 11 against Wisconsin. Tate, who is still battling a high-ankle sprain that has kept him out of nine conference games, played four minutes in Iowa’s overtime win Sunday over Michigan and is probable for MSU.

Despite the injuries, Izzo cautioned against underestimating a Hawkeyes team that ranks third in the Big Ten in scoring defense (58.9 points per game).

He praised guard Matt Gatens, Iowa’s leading scorer at 11.1 points per game, as a “tough kid” who is “going to be a great player for them,” and touted guard Jake Kelly (10.3 ppg), the reigning Big Ten Player of the Week, as a multidimensional player.

Bug bites again

Add Korie Lucious’ name to the lengthy list of MSU players who have been bit by the flu bug that’s swarmed MSU’s locker room.

The freshman guard has been hampered by symptoms that kept him on the bench for all but one minute Sunday, and are threatening his status for Wednesday. Although Izzo didn’t sound concerned about the possibility that Lucious could miss more time, he did seem irked about the lack of progress he’s made in his recovery.

“When he missed that one day, I said I thought it was just a 24-hour (flu), and the next day and a half, it just did not get much better,” Izzo said. “I hope (Monday) he’ll be able to shoot some and I’m hoping he’ll be great at practice by tomorrow.”

Having a healthy Lucious will be important, as Izzo said he’s a little concerned about the extended minutes he’s been forced to play sophomore guard Kalin Lucas.

“I ask him to do a lot of things,” Izzo said. “That’s why I think it’s so important for us to get (Raymar Morgan) back. I think Raymar was leading us in minutes at one time.”