Post-Game Quotes: Iowa

Feb. 7, 2018

Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo

Opening statement...
Wow. We went into the game concerned about our rebounding as last game was embarrassing. We did a better job on that. That's a pretty good rebounding team. I was concerned about our turnovers, but we did a phenomenal job with that. We haven't been shooting the ball great; we did a better job of that. We shoot almost 90 percent if Miles (Bridges) makes his free throws at the end. So we did a good job on that.

I think two things. We had a lot of foul trouble early and missed some big time layups early that maybe would have got us a 10 or 12 point lead, which I think would have been critical. I give Fran (McCaffery) a lot of credit, more credit than I do myself. He's had a tough season. That team is as good of an offensive team that we've played. They've struggled some defensively. He knows it, we all know it. I don't know why. Just need a little more commitment.

The same goes to us. I hope you all enjoyed the offensive fireworks because I don't think either team played defense, to be honest with you. I'll speak solely for myself, we didn't. We were in so much foul trouble that it hurt us. Nick (Ward) is off to one of his best starts he's had recently. He had 17 (points) in 12 (minutes).That's a shame.

In all honesty, Jaren (Jackson Jr.) missed practice yesterday. He was sick like (Jordan) Bohannon. A freshman doesn't know how to play with it as an upper-classmen does. I thought he did some good things and had a big block. He struggled a little, too. Our guards didn't play as well as I think they can defensively.

I'll be honest with you guys. I'll give you the best excuse I can give you. Five games in 12 days are really taking a toll on us. I'm sure everyone else has to go through something. I'm not sure of everybody else's schedule. I thought we were walking on our knees. Today we were beat, both mentally and physically. I'm going to take a win in a tough place to play. I'm going to take a win that played their tail off tonight. We're taking a day off tomorrow because the NCAA makes us take a day off.

On Kenny Goins' made 3-pointer with two minutes left…
I wasn't thinking anything bad. Didn't appreciate that it bounced around a couple times. I thought it was going to go in then it bounced back out. Kenny's improved his 3-point shooting. He was one of the bright spots tonight. I thought he played pretty well.

We didn't handle them very well inside. I absolutely love (Tyler) Cook. I was a little bit surprised that (Maishe) Dailey shot the ball really well tonight. He hasn't been shooting that well. (Cordell) Pemsl played really well tonight. He gave us fits.

On sitting Cassius Winston for 10 minutes…
Cassius was struggling early… We got down, that's why he came out. We all have to play better. We all have to coach better.

On preparing Cassius Winston for March…
Well if we don't play with a little more intensity defensively. We feel like is it because of the five games in 12 days. I don't have answers. I just know that guys aren't guarding. Our guys talked about where was the defense from the PK80. We didn't guard and we aren't rebounding like we were. He looked tired to me. He wasn't pushing the ball early. When he wants to, he's a very good player. That's something him and I will talk about.

Players Mentioned

Kenny Goins

Cassius Winston

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