Michigan State basketball coach Tom Izzo speaks to the media after the 79-75 overtime loss on Saturday, Feb. 2, 2019, in East Lansing. Chris Solari, Detroit Free Press
It’s a bad loss. And a worse look, what with ESPN’s College GameDay on campus and a student body that had been hyped for hours.
Tom Izzo cares about how things look. So when his team stepped onto college basketball’s national stage Saturday evening at the Breslin Center and didn’t play with its usual verve and vitality, he was irritated.
Actually, he was despondent. And demoralized.