by TYLER HATHAWAY
In a tournament known for making you expect the unexpected, one thing has been a constant in March for nearly the past 30 years.
Tom Izzo and Michigan State.
Izzo has coached the Spartans into their 28th straight NCAA tournament, the longest active streak in Division I, and Michigan State is readying to start their postseason run in Buffalo on Thursday afternoon.
“You make it to this many tournaments, it’s not a fluke,” said senior center Carson Cooper of his coach. “He knows what he’s doing, he knows the blueprint. He knows exactly what it takes to win and get through all these weekends.”
“Once you’ve been a national champion, been to the Final Fours, see how incredible moving on in March Madness is,” said Izzo. “There’s nothing like it.”
Michigan State, the No. 3 seed in the East region, enters the tournament with a 25-7 record and is looking to be the first Big 10 national champion since the Spartans themselves did it in 2000.
“Am I disappointed that it’s been that long?” said Izzo of the conference-wide drought. “I am. I’m hoping that we change that this year. Everyone pulls for their league, I know I do.”
Despite the title drought, the Spartans have made six Final Fours since their championship win, most recently in 2019.
“I don’t look at it as a disappointment because after we won it there’s been six other times we’ve been knocking on that door,” said Izzo. “Sooner or later its going to open, and I’m hoping sooner rather than later.”
If Michigan State is to get it done this season, Jeremy Fears Jr. will be a big reason why. The sophomore point guard pairs a team-high 15.7 points per game with a nation-high 9.2 assists per game.
“Passing is special,” said Fears. “Not a lot of people are able to do it. Credit to my teammates, they catch the lobs, they make the shots. I kind of just get them the ball and they do everything else. Without them I wouldn’t be able to do anything.”
“That’s what makes him a super special player, it’s that he’s unselfish,” senior forward Jaxon Kohler said of Fears. “At any point you always have to be ready for him to give you a drop off pass or turn around and find you. Then when he’s getting all the assists, the defense adjusts. And when they adjust, that’s when he has a scoring mentality too. That’s what makes him such a threat.”
Michigan State kicks off its tournament run with No. 14 seed North Dakota State. The Bison won both the regular season and tournament championships in the Summit League and have a record of 27-7.
“What I’ve learned in my profession in my past five years is that there’s a lot of good players in a lot of good places,” Izzo explained. “North Dakota State is one of them. They’ve won championships in football there. It’s a pretty neat place. (David Richman) seems like a great coach. They’ve got some good players.”
An early exit to UCLA in the Big 10 tournament was an early reminder for the Spartans about the fragile nature of March.
“You can be beat by anybody,” said Fears. “There’s great teams all around. Everyone’s in the tournament for a reason. Understanding that if you don’t bring your game, you can be going home. It’s one and done time, so you want to try and be at your best night in and night out.”
“I think it’s just having the same mindset going into every game,” junior forward Coen Carr said. “Not being up and down, and just having the same mentality going into every game. Play our basketball, not going away from what we do.”
Being both the heavy favorite and the underdog is something Izzo has experienced on both sides, both as a coach and a player.
“There is something with that David and Goliath thing,” the coach explained. “I was a Division II player and got a chance to play Al McGuire and Marquette. It was one of the greatest things in the world to get a chance to go up against somebody that everybody is talking about.”
“They’re not on TV every day, we’re on TV every day. That’s gotta be some of the motivation to their players, that they have a chance to prove themselves against the best.”
Tip-off is scheduled for Thursday at 4:05 pm at KeyBank Center. You can buy tickets for the game here.
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