The basketball portion of Michigan State basketball’s 12-day trip to Italy is finished, and the four-game summary reads as such: One 44-blowout win over a club team, lopsided losses to loaded Russian and Italian national teams, then Sunday’s 71-70 loss to the Georgian national team in Trieste.
And it can be capped with this quote from MSU coach Tom Izzo: “This trip was as good as anything I’ve done in my 20 years.”
The Spartans learned a few things about themselves playing against teams with long-term professionals, and on Sunday they nearly stole a win when senior guard Bryn Forbes just missed a shot from about 40 feet away at the buzzer.