Tom Izzo wants Michigan State basketball to show same grit at Minnesota he did 47 years ago

EAST LANSING — Tom Izzo ascended the stairs and stepped onto the elevated floor at Williams Arena for the first time. Facing a potent Minnesota team that featured future NBA stars Kevin McHale and Mychal Thompson, future Detroit Pistons coach Flip Saunders and other pro talent would prove to be a tall and daunting task for the Northern Michigan Wildcats.

It was Dec. 6, 1976, and Izzo was on his way to becoming a Division II All-American that season. But that night, when the diminutive but feisty senior point guard looked up, he saw future New York Knicks first-round pick Ray Williams barreling toward him, Izzo’s instincts as a tough-nosed defender kicked in.

A long fall awaited.

“I ended up off the court,” Izzo recalled Monday, adding, “Every time I go in there, of course it brings back those memories.”

That 96-50 Gophers win more than 47 years ago remains just a footnote in history in most respects. That play, however, typified the grit Izzo has built his Hall of Fame coaching career around.

'I'M PROUD': MSU toughness vs. Maryland reminds Tom Izzo of his best teams

And it shows exactly the type of effort and intensity he is demanding from Michigan State basketball as it goes back on the road to face Minnesota on that same raised court he tumbled off trying to spark as NMU’s captain.

“It's tough to win in the Big Ten. And to be successful in the Big Ten, you got to win probably at least half of your road games,” sophomore center Carson Cooper said Monday. “So we know this is a really important game to hopefully get a good step in the second half the season.”

Tipoff is 9 p.m. Tuesday at Williams Arena, where the Spartans (14-8, 6-5 Big Ten) have won five of the last six times they've visited the Gophers (14-7, 5-5). The game will not be televised but will be streamed on Peacock.

MSU needed plenty of resolve the first time the two teams met this season, a 76-66 victory Jan. 18 at Breslin Center. Tyson Walker scored 12 points in the final 3:46 to help pull away to victory in a physical back-and-forth game.

And Izzo pointed to Saturday’s 63-54 grind-it-out win over Maryland as a sign that his team picked up some lessons from a 5-3 January schedule that provided plenty of rough-and-tumble lessons of how the Spartans must approach their back half of games to push toward the postseason.

“I think in January, we had our back against the wall a little bit more than normally in my career," Izzo said. "We've had a few years where that's happened, but not a steady diet of it. I think one of the things that I do good — and sometimes it doesn't come across that way — I always deal with the white elephant in the room. In early January, I said, ‘Hey, guys, we used up our options. We can have a lot of bad games now.’ …

“Most people run from controversy. And I just said, ‘Don't blame the media, don't blame the coaches, don't blame your parents, don't blame your girlfriend. Look in the mirror and figure out that this is where we are. Excuses aren't gonna matter. And we got to turn that around.’ And I do think we have.”

Since dropping its first two Big Ten games in December, at home to Wisconsin and at Nebraska, MSU has won 10 of its last 13. Along with the win Saturday over the Terps, the Spartans’ next four games are against teams they beat during that stretch — at Minnesota, then Saturday at home against No. 12 Illinois, followed by two more quick-turn road games Feb. 14 at Penn State and Feb. 17 at Michigan.

Despite remaining unranked after beginning the season No. 4 in the preseason polls, Izzo’s team is currently No. 22 in the NCAA's NET rankings and No. 17 according to kenpom.com.

“I think everyone's just kind of playing with a lot more confidence and togetherness,” Cooper said. “And I think that as we see our starters and our vets play with more energy, that just helps the rest of the team play with that same energy. And especially in home games, it's nice to be able to have that crowd wrap around us. ... But being able to take it on the road is going to be a big part in our success down the road.”

MSU has five road games remaining, including a March 2 trip to No. 2 Purdue and the regular-season finale March 10 at Indiana. The Spartans’ only true road win was another scrape-and-claw victory Jan. 21 at Maryland, having lost two of their four in tight games against the Cornhuskers and Illini.

Turning that corner to taking what they’ve done in going 12-2 at Breslin, Izzo said, requires his team to show it has developed its fortitude even further away from home.

“To win on the road, you have to be physically tougher and mentally tougher. And I think in general, in our society, people are physically not as tough and mentally definitely not as tough. And that's the difference. …

“Mental toughness right now is something that I think is very important. Mental toughness means that you go into a place like Minnesota, or any place on the road, and mentally you believe you're going to win.”

The Gophers are one of seven Big Ten teams with two or more away wins, and they are 3-2 in league play at home. The loss at MSU was one of four in a row for coach Ben Johnson's team, including a two-point home loss to No. 9 Wisconsin. But Minnesota has won its last two, the first on the road at Penn State and then a gritty home comeback Saturday to knock off Northwestern in overtime, 75-66.

The Gophers did not have starter Elijah Hawkins in the first meeting against MSU, but the 5-foot-11 junior point guard has been back for the past three games and averages 8.1 points and 7.8 assists in 31.3 minutes. Dawson Garcia, a 6-11 junior forward, leads Minnesota at 17.4 points and 7.4 rebounds and had 22 points and nine rebounds in the first meeting, but the Spartans held him to 6-for-17 shooting.

MSU has won five of its last six trips to Williams Arena since 2016. As head coach, Izzo is 16-6 there and 38-12 overall against the Gophers but also has experienced a number of memorable close games against their floor regardless of how good or bad Minnesota has been.

“I mean let's let's be honest about it, Minnesota has been on the bottom for a few years now. And (Johnson) has taken that team and made it more competitive last year,” Izzo said. “But now, they're damn good. I mean, they're good enough to be an NCAA tournament team. They're good enough to compete the Big Ten every night.

“And I think our guys do know that, and I think that will be a plus. But still at the end of the day, you got to play the game. We have no business not respecting anybody, because of maybe how we've played at times.”

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

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Next up: Golden Gophers

Matchup: Michigan State (14-8, 6-5 Big Ten) at Minnesota (14-7, 5-5).

Tipoff: 9 p.m. Tuesday; Williams Arena, Minneapolis.

TV/radio: Peacock (online-only); WJR-AM (760).

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State basketball must show Tom Izzo-grit at Minnesota from '76