Couch: Tom Izzo still has bigger goals and milestones, but win No. 700 meant something

EAST LANSING – Davis Smith will never be to Michigan State basketball what his father, Steve Smith, is to the program. But Tuesday night called for someone of Davis’ pedigree to speak up. So in the locker room at halftime, he did, imploring his teammates to recognize and seize the moment.

“It’s something I’ve seen a few times (from him), but not in a situation like that,” Steven Izzo said of Davis, a fellow walk-on. “He just kind of showed his true pride of being a Spartan his whole life and playing Michigan, the rivalry, the hatred, all the respect.

“He knew the stats of everything. It was incredible. What (percentage) they were shooting, how many rebounds they were up on us. He really voiced what needed to happen. All eyes were on him and we needed it.”

By the time stories of Davis Smith’s halftime talk were being baked into Spartan lore well after 11 p.m., he and his father had long since disappeared into the foggy East Lansing night.

MSU’s 81-62 win over Michigan on Tuesday night will be part of Davis' imprint on the program, his spirited halftime wake-up call a contribution by a senior who played only the game's final seven seconds. His words, instead, were his gift to his head coach on the night Tom Izzo won his 700th game.

The Spartans turned a halftime deficit into a decisive win, taking control in a few swift minutes early in the second half — a reminder of this team’s many attributes, which are sometimes covered up by its flaws.

Izzo’s 29th team is still trying figure out how to always play with the grit and intensity and the defend, rebound-and-run philosophy from which Izzo built his program. The rebounding is the biggest hurdle for this particular group, which was out-rebounded Tuesday for the seventh time in 10 Big Ten games.

“I think we definitely have the capability, just everybody has to hone in on that,” fifth-year senior Malik Hall said Tuesday. “It's hard and we all know it's hard, but if you want to be great and you want to be one of the championship teams, that's what we’ve got to do.”

It’s an issue for this team. But not one that’s going to keep the Spartans from continuing an NCAA tournament streak that dates back to 1998. Or one that has Izzo thinking about retirement. He’s got a program that, three decades in, even during a sometimes frustrating season, is still talking about the goal of championships. Never should that be appreciated more than on a night when a loathed rival fell to 7-14 and 2-8 in the Big Ten. MSU’s high floor under Izzo is arguably his most remarkable achievement, even if not always satisfying.

Winning 700 games isn’t a milestone that’ll be celebrated throughout college basketball — 36 other Division I coaches have reached 700, nine of them are still coaching. Mike Kzyzewski finished with 1,202 wins.

Izzo has stood out more in other ways — his 26 straight NCAA tournaments are most all-time by any coach, his eight Final Fours are fifth-most, and he’s closing in on a bigger milestone, Bobby Knight’s record of 353 Big Ten wins, which Izzo (at 338) should pass next season.

But for a coach who struggled to get his first 40 wins, 700 is worth a moment of reflection, a night to celebrate. When Izzo couldn’t beat Detroit in the late 1990s, he couldn’t see this day coming. When he was sitting at the Frandor Burger King with his then-top assistant Tom Crean mapping out the program, he couldn't imagine this. When he was battling Michigan for McDonald's All-American Mateen Cleaves, he was just hoping he’d have a chance to build something. Not this, though. This would be too much to comprehend.

MORE: Couch: Izzo's Hall of Fame career began with uncertain early years

“I think of Mateen, I think of that recruiting battle,” Izzo said Tuesday night. “We all know I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t win that battle and then we didn’t win what we won.”

That national championship was win No. 120. The win in Detroit to reach the national title game nine years later was No. 335. The win over Duke in the Elite Eight 10 years after that was No. 606.

“700 wins at the same school, that means a lot to me,” Izzo said. “That’s probably what means the most to me.

“We — WE — the players, the assistant coaches I’ve had, we’ve won all our games right here at Michigan State. I’m really honored, proud and feel good. And like I said, we’re not dead yet. We’ve got some more wins, we’ve got some more years to go.”

Izzo sounded invigorated Tuesday night. Understandable when you’re surrounded by that many people who care — from a fan base that showed up strong for a 9 p.m. weeknight tipoff and a number former players who chose to be there, to a team that responded at halftime and a family that now includes his 6-month-old granddaughter who was there to experience it. Steven Izzo had urged his sister Raquel to be there Tuesday, even though she couldn’t find a babysitter.

“I said I would do some babysitting duty tomorrow,” Steven said. “I just think it's one of those things where that family photo (post-game) is going to last forever.”

Win No. 800 isn’t out of the realm of possibility. Tom Izzo is enjoying being Tom Izzo these days, I think, even when it doesn’t look like it. He’s still hungry to compete, still hopeful for a real chance at a second national championship. And unlikely to be as happy doing anything else.

And I don’t think he’s satisfied with where his program is presently, even if Tuesday night was a night to feel good about a lot of things. That includes beating the rival that was such a thorn for Izzo in his first few years as MSU’s head coach and, before that, as an assistant — including back when Michigan coach Juwan Howard was playing for the Wolverines.

“I’ve had a lot of success here playing,” Howard said of Breslin Center. “I used to love playing here. It’s one of my favorite places. Got a lot of wins here.

“As a coach, it’s been a challenge getting wins here. This is a tough place to play.”

Izzo’s made it such. Izzo’s made MSU’s program. Every expectation you and I have for MSU basketball, he created.

“He is a Hall of Fame coach,” Howard said. “He’s an example of what a lot of us coaches are striving to become. And with the success he’s had in college basketball, the work is right there, just glaring at you. But the man grinded (to get here).”

MORE: Couch: 3 quick takes on Michigan State's 81-62 win over Michigan

Contact Graham Couch at gcouch@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @Graham_Couch.

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: MSU basketball: Izzo's 700th win a milestone he never could imagine