Post-Game Quotes vs. High Point

EAST LANSING, Mich. -

Michigan State Head Coach Tom Izzo

Opening Statement...
I guess… a couple lessons I learned [today]. One lesson is… early in the year I was playing eight, nine, ten guys and I kind of questioned it, we had a lot of turnovers, we had a lot of issues and I almost didn't stick with it and I said 'I'm going to start cutting it back' and I didn't still play a lot of guys. I guess in this COVID era sometimes it's good to learn how to win short handedly, and other guys are gonna have to rise up and we got a chance to see which guys are gonna rise up. As you could tell, I'm totally disappointed with our effort. That doesn't happen very often for me. I heard my good friend Nick Saban say it again; 'usually you guys are the cause of rat poison'. But I think it was [seeing] families and girlfriends, everybody went home and hugged and kissed everybody. We're a top-ten team, we weren't even a top 50 team tonight. I want to make sure we take nothing away from Tubby [Smith], I got outcoached, we got outplayed and we had one or two guys; Joey Hauser played his best game as a Spartan, I told him his the best game at Michigan State of Marquette because he not only scored it efficiently, he not only rebounded efficiently, but maybe most importantly he defended pretty well. And that was a big deal for us. When he was on his guy, it was only one time that he scored. And that was [Zack] Austin, and Austin's a good player. So I was just disappointed that we let our offense be our defense. I mean, that team was, withtwo minutes left that going into the game they were shooting 58 percent from the three. Oakland shot in the high 30s. I think we forgot where we came from, you know, lost the edge a little bit. And instead of blaming a player, which I do give some of the blame, I'm gonna blame me, because when I came back I worried about what we were doing. [We were] worried about COVID, worried about players, worried about this worried about that. And so we didn't practice as well. We haven't practiced as well since December 11. We gave the, a lot of time off for finals because we had some guys that had tough finals. And then after finals, we had a couple days and then we go to Oakland, and then we give them another four days, five days off. And we come back and we got some guys with COVID, we got some guys [sick] and so I'm leery of pushing them. And if there's one thing I learned, I said to my staff with three minutes left to go in the game when we started picking up our defense, 'practice is important'. Remember that it's important, and we played like we practiced, and it's not all their fault. I'm going to take a lot of the blame for that. We're gonna start practicing again tomorrow. And we'll hopefully have most of our bodies back tomorrow. I think what we learned is, give Max Christie a lot of credit for a freshman who was shooting 28 percent from the three… 90 percent of the players let their offense dictate their defense. He's probably been my best defender. And I don't know how because that was supposedly his weakness. Now he started shooting the ball well in the last week or so, practicing really well at Oakland and we missed him today. And we did miss good old Marky [Bingham], he's that shot blocker, that rim protector. I thought the other guy that played pretty well was Julius [Marble II], considering it was his first start. So I'm going on and on a little bit because I think I'm disappointed in [myself] for letting that [game] slide. Don't put us on any top 10 list because we have a long way to go. And if we're going to read our press clippings, or read Mommy and Daddy's pats on the back, we're in trouble, because that team was shooting 58 percent with two minutes left to go into game from the three, that team shot well from the two… But I wanted to say a couple good things we did. We rebounded pretty well, we rebounded offensively decently. We did hold our turnovers down to eight, that was a very encouraging part. We did shoot pretty well from the three considering Max [Christie] didn't play that was encouraging. We just didn't play with any zip. The only reason we did at the end is our crowd was unbelievable. And for all the little kids out there, that Santa brought them tickets to the game, I appreciate it.

On Joey Hauser's performance...
I asked Joey going into the press conference if he was gonna change and actually smile once in 2021. He probably didn't, or maybe a half a smile but hey, we're making progress, man. But I was really proud of him. You know, he came back and thought he had COVID, he wasn't feeling great, but he didn't have it, and I've never seen a guy so excited about it. And I'd say that of all the guys that came back, he came back with the right mindset. We talked about that after the game. I'm happy for him. I'm not gonna raise a banner yet but I am going to say that when you can do it offensively, defensively, rebounding the ball, making free throws, making passes, making plays very efficiently … That's the Joey Hauser era. It wasn't like a historic night, he only took eight shots, but shot very efficient and really was fun to watch and play. All the players reacted to him playing well.

On his halftime conversation with Gabe Brown...
And that's what I told him on the way out, I said, in the beginning he shot the ball so well but he has not been [since], and he didn't shoot well at Oakland. He was two-for-nine I think, from three. So And I think that let him affect his defense, and [prior] been really solid, really good. I love him to death. But, boy, if you start letting your offense dictate your defense, we're going to be in trouble because there are going to be people getting after him. He's high in that scouting report, and you better learn to adjust to that. So I love Gabe, he's the hardest worker I got. He's been a really good captain. I would say today was not a good day. And he still ended up with a career-high.

On AJ Hoggard and Tyson Walker's performances...
AJ, defensively he should be the best defender we got. He's got strength. He's good size, but sometimes, you know, it doesn't go that way. But in fairness to Tyson, he hurt that ankle man. I thought it was his Achilles the way it snapped, but thank god our trainers took care of it. But he wasn't the same, you know, he was pretty solid but I don't know. We need to get Max [Christie] back. I mean, there's no question about that. And I do see those guys playing some together. But I don't know about a steady diet of it.

On his post-game speech and High Point head coach Tubby Smith's reaction...
I love Tubby Smith. He's done it the right way at every school he's been at. He's been in a lot of different schools, and I was on a phone with him a couple of times when he made some moves and I just think a he's a damn good coach. He's a way better person. It's kind of neat that he goes back to his alma mater and tries to bring things back. And their facility … looking at film it's phenomenal. So if I'm recruiting for him, I'm gonna help him, they have beautiful facilities, and this team's gonna win some games. I mean, they lost a couple games because they have their issues too. They couldn't make a free throw for a couple games and that really hurt them … as far as COVID, I got to watch myself on that because I get politically accused of things. So I just said, you know, because of it I was surprised that we had that many people out. And I was excited. Pleased, because sometimes around the holidays when people normally don't get to see us play, they do get to see us play because the students are gone, and I just wanted to thank them. I mean, last year we had no fans. And before you know it, at the end of the year, it was such a weird end. So it's been a while since our fans, in my mind, went to a game, and I hate to say it, but I thought our fans did a way better job than I did. So I just wanted to thank them, I hope they have a good Christmas, stay safe and I appreciated their kids screaming and yelling… I saw a lot of little kids in the stands. You don't get to see that as much anymore. The way everything is now in college sports. But I looked at some kids and I said to myself, 'that was my dad taking me to a high school game or taking me to watch Northern Michigan play,' and what a thrill it was, I can only imagine what it was like for them. So a sincere thank you, and all my respect and appreciation. That's all.

On what to focus in on with the team going forward...
I'm focused in, I'm not going to sleep tonight so when they practice tomorrow so I'm ready to go. But I don't blame them for it, I blame me. I do blame me. But it's been two games in a row now where our defense has not been very good. And our defense was ranked, we were playing good teams, statistically, one of the best in the country. And we all do this sometimes, don't you think? We all forget where we came from. And that's not a good idea. So I'm gonna make sure that tomorrow through film, through practice, through some more film through some more practice, that we figure out where we came from and who we are. We're one of the best running teams in the entire country, and I've had many coaches say that to me. You run because you defend, you rebound, and then you run again. If you don't defend. there's a tendency not to run as much and when they're hitting threes from long range you don't even have to get back as quick. So we got some work to do, but I do feel like this team is really together. Maybe it was the guys missing maybe it was the coming back [from break]. Maybe the damn coach did a bad job. So I'm going to go to the last one because that's the only one I can control, and beat the hell out of the coach tonight. And then we're gonna get better tomorrow.

On AJ Hoggard stepping up late in the game...
AJ [Hoggard] is a good player, you know, he's a good player. It just consistency, staying focused, and he can do some of those things and get to the hoop, he can. He can make some great passes. He's my best lob guy. You know, I think AJ is having a much, much better year and part of that is he's in better shape, but defensively he should be great. And I'd say that that's an area he's got to continue to get better at. Because off the ball sometimes, or on the ball, he can be pretty good but off the ball, I thought when we locked up in the last three, four minutes. I mean if any you watched the bench, which if I were you I wouldn't have either, but we were laughing. Because the one thing that I've learned in the time I've been in this is [winning the game] means nothing to me. I am so far beyond that part of my career. I'm into winning the year and to win the year you got to do things correctly. And sometimes the way all these people are now on the social damn media, they think if you win, it solves all the problems. It doesn't solve any problems. It just means that on that given day, you might have been a little better than the other team. Or maybe you have a little better players or maybe you're at home or maybe the crowd was better. But winning does not solve the problems at were I want to get. So I made that perfectly clear in a couple of hurdles. And I think I think we're gonna have meetings about that tomorrow. We've been the most unbelievable team I've had and we were getting better every day in practice. And then when we quit practicing that hurt a little bit, and the last two games have kind of reared its ugly head a little bit. So I'll get back to work.

On struggling with turnovers but improving on rebounding...
I thought the turnovers, we are doing a better job of that. I think the last five games were more around 12 [turnovers], a little less, those first five games were more around 17 and it cost us a couple games. So that free throw shooting we've been working on at night. So we get a little better there. But rebounding the ball, considering Marcus [Bingham] wasn't in there. I'm still not happy with our rebounding again. Gabe [Brown] ended up with seven. That's good. Julius [Marble], five or six. We got to get our wings… I mean Jaden [Akins] is a very good rebounder, Malik Hall was a very good rebounder when we didn't rebound very well from our wings. I didn't think gaped it till the end. So we got some work to do there too. But boy, did we look a step slowed in that first period, of just being in quicksand, and you can say well yeah, it's the layout. But that's not a good excuse.

On Mady Sissoko's performance...
Mady's got a great motor, and I told him after the game… we wanted to play Mady even more minutes, and there's some things he did well, and then you know, he missed the dunk, there were some things he didn't do as well, but he needs to get some time, and this was a game where we were hoping to get him more time than what he got, I was hoping to get him more like 12, 14 minutes. He's been practicing better. We were just so discombobulated defensively, that I think it hurt him. Our wings are stepping up, and our guards just did such a poor job defensively, that I think it hurt a guy like Mady and so when I look at the film and I didn't think Mady played good, I got a feeling it was because other guys didn't do their job. We need Mady. As you know in this league there's gonna be a lot of big guys and it's not easy to play against teams that are playing six inside guys that you know can shoot it like the [Zack] Austin kid, he's good player. I think he's gonna win a lot of games with that team. We'll get Mady better, Mady works his tail off … the year off when he didn't play as a senior hurt a little bit, COVID hurt a little bit, hurt his development, but he has been a lot better in practice so he'll improve.

High Point Head Coach Tubby Smith

Opening Statement...
Hope you all had a good holiday. Coach Izzo ruined mine. They really lit it up in the second half. John-Michael Wright really struggled to shoot the ball, and in a game like this you have to shoot the ball well. But otherwise, I thought that our kids played hard. We didn't always play as smart as we'd like, but we did play hard. I also want to say that I appreciate Tom having us up here. Coach Izzo actually moved this game to help us play a game at Kentucky, so I appreciate that.

On the first-half shooting performance...
Execution. We were getting some good looks though both teams started pretty cold to start the game. I liked our patience and our ball movement. Jaden House made shots early on, and we brought Bryson Childress in, and he made two deep threes, and that can usually loosen up a team's defense. We struggled, obviously, around the basket scoring with their length and their shot-blocking ability. They only blocked two shots, but they altered a bunch of shots. Our patience was better than it has been, offensively. Again, I thought they did a good job of hounding John Michael-Wright; teams have done that to us. But otherwise, we have been shooting the ball well in practice. We have shot it well that last few days. I am glad we shot it well.

On what Wright was doing well when the shots weren't falling...
He is our leading assists guy. He had six assists; he was giving his effort. Defensively, he has great heart, and is tough-minded kid. If he is making the shots that he is capable of, then we are in it to the end. But that stretch, we had a couple turnovers, but for the most part we took care of the ball. It is tough because he is usually a better rebounder, but what is happening is that we are playing him at the point a lot, so he is having to get back on defense, especially against Michigan State's fast break.

On rebounding better in the second half...
We are pretty small; we have Bryson Childress and Brock Williams, a freshman and a sophomore in there. It is kind of hard to box out in there, and there big guys are very good. We went to some zone and boxed out in the zone and that was to try to help us with rebounding. It usually doesn't but I thought we did a good job there. They made a lot of shots in the second half, so there wasn't a lot of rebounding. They shot 66 percent (from 3) in the second half and 87 percent from the free throw line and 64 from the field, so that probably helped our rebounding, or lack of.

On Joey Hauser's performance...
He's got a good inside game. He can knock down a 3; he is a willing passer. He obviously rebounds well; he had three assists and no turnovers. He just has a good all-around game. At that size, when you can step out and make shots you are pretty valuable to your teammates. But his defense is also good. He really battles and relentless going to the board and he keeps pursuing balls. He must have gotten his hands on a lot of balls that created opportunities for his teammates as well.

On what makes this Tom Izzo team unique...
To be able to play without two starters and win a game. I have watched them on film and they are as fast as any team that I have watched on tape. I mean in pushing the ball up the court in transition. They are obviously a great defensive team; his teams always play well defensively and rebounding. They check all the boxes when it comes to consistent play, and that is why he is a legendary coach.

On friendship with Coach Izzo..
Usually a guy that beats you like this isn't much of a friend, but Tom is very about everything. He is caring you can tell his players love him. The fans love him; his administration love him. He has done a remarkable job here. His consistency and longevity make you appreciate someone who does it the right way.

Michigan State Senior Forward Gabe Brown

On making adjustments to his shot in the second half…
Mentally, I just started getting the ball up. Coach (Izzo) has been on me about that, which I've been working so hard on, just trying to get my ball up and just trying to follow through with things like that. So, I appreciate coach and appreciate my teammates for just having my back.

On Joey Hauser's performance…
Joey is one of those guys that's going to work hard. When he's out there he's going to rebound, he's going to be in the right spots, he's going to play defense and he's going to hit the shots that are open. Today he did a great job of that. Joey has been feeling like he's been in a slump a little bit lately, but today he showed great improvements and I'm just proud of him.

On the home crowd being into the game…
It feels good. I appreciate the crowd for coming out tonight because it is Christmas break, no students on campus, so I really do appreciate the crowd for coming out tonight. They did a good job of just sticking with us throughout the whole game. Just having those guys by our side when we were not getting stops and having that energy, it feels good.

On the team having a higher defensive intensity in the second half…
It was all the coaches. All the coaches know that we can play defense, all the coaches harp on defense, and we always harp on bringing the culture back and what starts the culture is defense. They came in a locker room and they were yelling at us and they wanted us to check in. We wanted to come out in the second half and do that. I felt like we did a great job but it wasn't good enough.

On his early shooting struggles affecting his defensive play…
I did a poor job defensively. I do take the blame for that and I do take the blame for not being there mentally locked in on the defensive side because the guys need me defensively. So, I do take blame for that and next game I got to pick it up.

Michigan State Redshirt Senior Forward Joey Hauser

On stepping up with guys out...
I knew I had to step up. We were playing limited guys so I figured I would have to play a couple more minutes than I was used to. I just kept playing my game and made a few more shots.

On what the difference was down the stretch...
I would say we just made a few more shots. Defensively we weren't great the whole game. Second half, they got a lot of offensive rebounds and some loose balls. I'd just say towards the end we made some shots and it kind of gave us a win there, but there's a lot of things we need to get better at.

On working through when his shot isn't falling...
I just have to keep shooting. It's something I work on every day, so I know it's going to fall sooner or later.

On Gabe Brown's second half performance...
Gabe is a great shooter. I don't know what he shot in the first half, I know he didn't make a couple, but at the end he got on a run. I thought the crowd really helped. It was a great crowd today. When he's knocking down shots and looking for his shot, I think that's when we're at our best.

On his role changing with players out...
I knew I would have to play the five position a little bit. I didn't know if I was going to have to play the three at all. You can see defensively I was defending the five a little bit more, so we missed have a shot blocker down there in Marcus [Bingham Jr.]. I figured I would have to play more and just be solid for us and rebound the ball as well.

On the team's slow start to the game...
High Point played well today. They knocked down shots and at the start of the game we didn't shoot the ball particularly well, so I think a little bit was us just shaking off a bit of the rust from Christmas break. We need to get back in shape and get that out of our system.

On missing Marcus Bingham Jr...
Marcus has a huge presence down low, especially blocking shots, but I still think you have to give them credit. They really shot the ball well, but they had a lot of open shots that they were making. We've got to work on some stuff. There was some miscommunication going on, so we've got to figure that out.

On AJ Hoggard...
When AJ gets in sometimes, he's a little reckless and that helps us a little bit. He gets downhill and finishes at the rim well. Sometimes we need that, and I thought he did a great job today distributing the ball

On Jaden Akins making his first start...
It was his first game starting so I'm sure he was a little nervous. The way he works, the way he defends and hustles I know he's going to have better games to come.

Players Mentioned

Jaden Akins

Marcus Bingham Jr.

Gabe Brown

Max Christie

Malik Hall

Joey Hauser

Mady Sissoko

Tyson Walker

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