What means the most to Michigan State basketball's Tom Izzo after 700th win

EAST LANSING – The celebration of Tom Izzo’s 40-plus years as a part of Michigan State basketball could not have been more jubilant.

Kisses from his wife, daughter, and 6-month-old granddaughter. The 29th-year head coach's son clutching the game ball.

The hugs spanning generations. From Steve Smith to Mateen Cleaves to Anthony “Pig” Miller and many other former players.

Malik Hall interrupting a postgame interview for an embrace from behind. Tre Holloman dancing behind his Hall of Fame head coach. Their teammates hopping up and down, holding signs and hooting and hollering to honor another momentous moment. This one is threefold.

Win No. 700. A 69th birthday. Beating rival Michigan yet again.

HISTORY LESSON: Tom Izzo's epic journey to 700 wins with Michigan State basketball

“I mean, in this day and age, you don't stay in the same place very long unless you win big,” Izzo said Tuesday night after his milestone 81-62 victory over the Wolverines. “And you don't win big without good players and good teams and good leaders and good assistant coaches. And you know what? People have supported me here.”

A dominant second half after pushing through first-half struggles turned back the clock and jogged memories of some of the best teams over nearly three decades. And the turnaround after falling behind by as many as nine points started with three plays in the first three minutes after halftime that altered the course of events.

A driving layup by A.J. Hoggard, around a mid-post screen from Mady Sissoko. Malik Hall’s bull-rush, up-under-and-through layup around U-M’s Olivier Nkamhoua. Tyson Walker after that bucket chasing down a loose rebound, then swiping it from the Wolverines’ Jaelin Llewellyn from behind and racing uncontested for the go-ahead layup.

The type of aggressiveness and physicality that have defined Izzo’s program. The stuff he’s been seeking more consistently from this group.

“There's no way he wasn't getting 700 tonight, if you want me to be totally honest with you,” said Hoggard, who scored 15 and reached the 1,000-point mark for his career. “So that was the mindset. We knew it was just bigger than us tonight.”

When Jaden Akins drained a 3-pointer after the Spartans’ defense delivered another stop by forcing a turnover, Breslin Center erupted. So did Akins, letting out a guttural roar.

Michigan coach Juwan Howard called timeout. But it already was too late. Momentum already shifted in Izzo’s favor, and MSU would score 12 straight points that included another Hall layup and another Akins 3-pointer, part of the junior guard’s career-high 23-point night.

“There was a point where it was like bucket-stop, bucket-stop, bucket. That's what we need,” said senior forward Hall, who scored 12 points on 6-for-8 shooting. “Those are the swings and the energy and the momentum.”

What began as a two-point halftime deficit snowballed into a 10-point Spartan lead that would not drop below seven the rest of the way. It grew to as many as 20 after Akins’ career-best seventh 3-pointer and a putback basket by sophomore Jaxon Kohler with a little more than 3 minutes remaining.

MSU held U-M to just 25% shooting and 3-for-11 from 3-point range in the final half as it ratcheted up its defense.

“I hope it's a good birthday present for him,” Akins said of beating U-M for Izzo. “It's always something big for him, I feel like. He's played so many games versus them. But there's still always that energy and intensity that he brings to practice and the walk-throughs – to everything – when it's Michigan week.”

Izzo became the 38th coach in Division I history to win 700 career games, all with the Spartans. He is the first in Big Ten history to do it at one school.

GAME RECAP: Michigan State's Tom Izzo notches 700th career win, on birthday, 81-62 over Michigan

“So many coaches have changed, and I've just kind of hung in there. And that's what happens when you hang in there,” said Izzo, who arrived at MSU as a graduate assistant under Jud Heathcote in 1983. “I mean, 700 wins is pretty impressive, even to me. But 700 wins at the same school, that means a lot to me. That's probably what means the most to me. …

“We – the players, the assistant coaches I've had – we've won all of ours right here at Michigan State. And I am really, really honored, proud and feel good.”

Howard, who played at U-M while Izzo was an MSU assistant and whom Izzo briefly courted as a high school recruit, gave Izzo a handshake and a congratulatory pat on the shoulder in the postgame handshake line. He also delivered high praise for his rival coach.

“He is a Hall of Fame coach. He's an example of what a lot of us coaches are striving to become,” said Howard, who is now 4-5 against Izzo and has lost all of those at Breslin. “And with the success he's had in college basketball, the work is right there, just looking and glaring at you. ... I really admire coach in a lot of ways.

“Yes, it's a rivalry. It's always been a rivalry. But at the same time, you just got to give respect where respect is due.”

To call Tuesday night perfect, even if the storybook ending was, would be incorrect. And Izzo quickly pointed to the deficiencies at the outset, some of which have plagued his team all season.

Rebounding remains a concern, with the Wolverines finishing with a 34-26 advantage and turning 13 offensive boards into 13 second-chance points. They also hit five first-half 3-pointers while shooting nearly 61% overall in racing out to an 18-9 lead when another unlikely opponent – Tarris Reed Jr. – hit his first collegiate 3 a little more than 8½ minutes into the game.

But Izzo’s team settled in. After committing four turnovers in the first 6:20, the Spartans had just two the rest of the game, both of which came after they had pushed their lead to double digits following halftime. And Izzo also saw much more of the hustle and scrappiness on the defensive end from his team in the final 20 minutes, starting with Walker’s steal and breakaway bucket.

“We were very average the first half,” Izzo said. “So I should be more excited, but I'm not. Because I have bigger goals than to win a game, even against your rival. But it was something we had to do, and hopefully we can build on the second half.”

Euphoria and elation will settle back into work mode, as it always has for Izzo. Just as seeking stability has long been his mission. Both on the macro level as a program in trying to mold MSU into a blueblood since he took over in 1995, and on the micro level every year since in attempting to get each group of players gelling. Which, coincidentally, seems to start annually around his Jan. 30 birthday.

“Consistency,” he said, “is what I think is the key to successful programs.”

The “bigger goals” Izzo mentioned seem a reach in some ways at the moment. He felt going into this season that the Spartans could contend for a national championship, though they have been on a roller-coaster since the start. Even after winning for the ninth time in the last 12 games, he described this group as “consistently inconsistent.”

The Spartans (13-8, 5-5 Big Ten) host Maryland on Saturday (5:40 p.m./FS1). It gives Izzo another chance to continue his quest to get his team back to playing at the elite level they have shown infrequently all winter, with March fast approaching.

And the warm glow from a special birthday and special win shoved aside to focus on the task at hand.

“Like I said, we're not dead yet,” he said. “We got some more wins, we got some more years to go. Gonna keep fighting the fight.”

Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State basketball: What meant most to Tom Izzo after 700th win