Michigan State 82, Iowa 54
3/5/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 5, 2003
Michigan State vs. Iowa March 5, 2003
Postgame Quotes
Iowa Coach Steve Alford: "If you've done what Michigan State has done over the last several years, expectations rise beyond belief. I think they've been solid all year. I think they've fought through some injuries and they've fought through injuries playing on the road; and when you're injured and playing road games, it's hard to win. They are solid and they've gained some depth back. We gave Ballinger an awful lot of confidence now going into the last game of the year and into the Big Ten tournament. We've been on the road for three straight games and at home, I think this game might be a little different. This is a tough environment, we played a very good team, it's senior day, and they came out hot, threw a zone at us and our guys didn't handle it very well."
Michigan State Coach Tom Izzo: "Well, I'm not sure you could have scripted a senior night any better. I was kind of hoping that Al (Anagonye) could have gotten a few more buckets and we could have gotten one for Bowie (Brian Westrick), but it was an incredible night for Adam (Ballinger). I don't know what to say, except that I'm happiest for him. It's been a run and like I told him last night, I thought he had a few games left in him.
"We started out well in that zone (defense) and I must give credit to Jud (Heathcote) because he's been on me all year to play more zone, so tonight I decided to play 40 minutes of it. And I thought we played it really well. That is a good Iowa team that just didn't play as well tonight, so understand that's not the Iowa team I've seen on film the last couple of games. All in all, I'm happy for the seniors because they've all done well. Tonight was their night and I'm just ecstatic that it ended that way."