Spartans defeat Minnesota, give Izzo 400th win

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For MSU men’s basketball coach Tom Izzo, Wednesday night’s 68-62 win over Minnesota at Breslin Center was about the most appropriate way to notch his 400th career victory.

Much like most of the 399 that came before it, Wednesday night’s win saw the No. 10 Spartans (17-4, 6-2 Big Ten) out-tough, outrebound and eventually outscore the visiting Golden Gophers (15-6, 3-5).

“It was kind of a grind-it-out win,” Izzo said. “We weren’t great, they weren’t great. We just kind of ground it out, and that was probably the way I needed to get a win here.”

Izzo became the fourth Big Ten coach to win 400 games at a Big Ten school, joining Bob Knight (661 wins), Gene Keady (512) and Lou Henson (423).

But before the Izzone helped bring Izzo to tears eyes by chanting “400” and holding up signs to celebrate the 17-year head coach’s milestone victory, MSU had to battle a scrappy Minnesota team.

The Spartans started the game by going inside early and often. Sophomore center Adreian Payne scored MSU’s first four points, with senior forward Draymond Green scoring the next four.

However, Minnesota’s Rodney Williams helped the Golden Gophers keep pace with two early 3-pointers. Ralph Sampson III’s layup quickly tied the game at eight with 16:21 left in the first half.

Led by Payne and junior center Derrick Nix, though, the Spartans continued to pound the ball inside and hit the offensive glass. MSU scored 20 points in the paint in the first half and racked up 10 second chance points on seven offensive rebounds.

Payne and Nix combined for 11 points in the first half before each finishing with eight, and Izzo said they were his stars of the game.

“I thought early, Payne, he scored a couple, then Nix went in there and got some fouls on people,” Izzo said. “He did a great job, and we just kept rotating those guys.”

Izzo credited Payne, who also grabbed five rebounds, with playing possibly his best game since coming to MSU, and Payne agreed.

“More defensively than offensively,” Payne said. “I think I did pretty good, Coach Izzo felt the same. But I still feel like I got more to give.”

After Green’s step-back 3-pointer as time expired in the first half gave the Spartans a 37-27 lead, both teams went back and forth to start the second half.

The Spartans maintained a 41-31 lead heading into the first media timeout of the second half. During the game’s next five minutes, MSU had multiple chances to extend the lead, but Minnesota had an answer for each surge by the Spartans.

And, thanks to a layup by Joe Coleman and two free throws and a layup by Sampson, Minnesota cut MSU’s lead to five, 46-41, with about 10 minutes to play.

MSU responded when freshman guard Branden Dawson stole the ball and was fouled intentionally going up for a layup. He made 1-of-2 free throws, sparking a 5-0 Spartan run where all five points came at the free throw line to build a 51-41 lead with eight minutes to play.

Minnesota never came within less than eight points after that run, as MSU won going away for Izzo’s 400th win.

Green had a game-high 22 points, 14 rebounds and six assists. He was frustrated with shooting just 3-for-7 from the line, but his head coach said he excelled everywhere else.

“He did everything but make free throws, and he’s madder at that than I am,” Izzo said. “But the way he played, the shots he took, the rebounds he got, the way he defended, the way he passed, I thought it was one of the better performances of any player I’ve had here.”

Freshman guard Branden Dawson followed Green by chipping in with 16 points. As a team, the Spartans shot 26-48 (54.2 percent) from the field and held Minnesota to 18-for-47 (38.3 percent) shooting.

MSU now has almost a week off before hitting the road Tuesday to play Illinois in Champaign, Ill., and the win keeps them in a tie for first in the Big Ten. And while the Spartans won in a way that can be expected from Izzo’s teams, Green also said it was a win that embodied his personality and what he expects from the Spartans the rest of the season.

“If we can be tough at all times, get all the scrappy balls, win the rebound battle, all those things usually lead to wins,” Green said. “So if I can kind of just relay that to (his teammates) and try to mold them into that, I think that could help us out a lot, and that’s what I’ve been trying to do.”

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