Post-Game Quotes vs. Ohio State

Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo

Opening statement…
On such a great night, I think I'll start out with how sorry I felt for Ayo Dosunmu (of Illinois). I did talk to Brad (Underwood) today when I found out. I actually talked to the kid, and Mady (Sissoko) texted him. Mady is one of my best kids, as everybody knows…Hopefully (Ayo) will recover quickly, because he's one of the best players in this league and one of the great kids in this league, so I'll just leave it at that, so that was taken care of.

As far as the game goes, you know, we started out the second half 1-for-9, and we ended it 10-for-13 – that was big. I thought it was surviving the first half, without my two superstars in Josh (Langford) and Aaron (Henry) playing 20 minutes between the two of them, and (to) be down five, I thought we were lucky. I did not think we played great, and yet, we found a way to win. It was an absolute war in there. I feel for Chris (Holtmann) too, I thought we were both complaining about a lot of things, it was so physical in the post, but at the same time, there were some big plays. The play when we were down 49-42 and Josh sprinted back and blocked that shot was huge, the big three we got from Joey was huge; I thought we did some great defensive stands down the stretch, and yet, we had to overcome some turnovers and some sporadic play at times.

I thought Aaron, second half, started playing off two feet. First half, he was playing off of one foot. That was a big difference. But to outrebound them, have 19 assists on 24 baskets, more like we've been playing earlier in the year; defensively, I thought we gave up some things inside, but the whole game plan defensively was don't give up the 3, the last five games they're averaging almost 11 3's a game, they get four (tonight). I thought we did a hell of a job on Justin Ahrens; another kid I almost feel for because (I) love his family, his brother (Kyle). We gave him so much attention because my assistants are watching him shoot around before the game and I had three assistants come up to me and say, 'he doesn't miss a shot.' When I watched him, he made me ill, because he doesn't miss many shots. Duane Washington has been playing so good, and has really improved as a player, and we did a decent job on him from the 3, although he drove us crazy the first 10 minutes of the game, just driving the ball.

But that's a very good team. They're missing a very good player, although we've gone through missing some people too, but that was a big win for us. The way we won it, maybe not shooting the lights out, although we shot 48 percent. I thought our rebounding was pretty good. Defense against the 3 was pretty good. And Aaron and Gabe (Brown) came up with some big, big shots. We got something out of AJ. We got something out of Marcus Bingham. I thought he played very well. All in all, just happy we found a way to win.

On having three different players over the last three games running the game in different spots and why Aaron Henry was able to take over tonight…
You know, I'm really happy with the progress Rocket has made, but tonight we thought he could get in the paint, which he can against anybody, but we're not playing off two feet so we're taking some shots that – might have thought he got fouled on a couple and you don't call those. He struggled defensively for the first time in a while and so we just kind of mixed our lineup up, it's been that way all year – why change now? We did put different guys at the point…had A.J. there a little bit; had Josh there a hair; down the stretch I had Aaron there. It helps when I can play Joey because now they have to respect the shooter and that gave Aaron some freedom. So, there were different groups of people we had in there. I thought every guy that played, from Rocket in the second half was better, to just every guy – every guy did something. Malik Hall did something; Marcus was very good; Kithier gave us five good minutes. I mean those don't seem like a lot of minutes to some people, but they do to me and I appreciate it.

On the "I don't get tired" mentality from Aaron Henry…
Everybody has idols. You hear LeBron James say it. I love what he said because in a day and era where everybody is taking days off, I just love watching LeBron say that. I remember talking to Magic years ago and they practiced every day, played every day…and I told Aaron that. I said the only way we're going to get tired is if we talk about being tired. I said learn from LeBron. He goes out every night – 40 minutes, 41 minutes and says he's not tired and takes care of himself. Now, I will say this, our guys have done a good job of taking care of themselves and we've done a pretty good job, for me, a really good job of not beating the hell out of them in practice. (After the Illinois game) we had a walkthrough in the afternoon; we had a film session; another walkthrough; a film session; then that night we came back and had another walkthrough and film session. This morning we had one and then this afternoon a shootaround. So, we try to mentally prepare more than physically. I kind of used it like an NCAA Tournament how we prepare with one-day prep. These juniors and seniors are playing for a lot and I give Aaron credit, he was getting tired. We rode him like a horse and he answered the bell.

On Josh Langford's vocal leadership in huddles tonight…
You know, players are amazing now. Everybody has an answer for what they do. Josh Langford, his gave has been good. Tonight, he was only 2-for-7, but he makes big blocks; he makes a couple of free throws that are critical; gets a few rebounds; gets five assists. But all those things don't compare to how he's been every practice, every huddle and in every locker room. I found myself a guy who has been through so much. I think it's so important to him. I always talking about liking, loving or living. He lives it and he's even going outside of his personality. His personality is kind of quiet and I just loved it when he really showed some passion and emotion. He did it in a classier way that I would, of course, but it's fun to watch him take that over.

That's what I started with Mateen and it will end when I'm dead. Player-coached teams are very valuable and very important. I can go to Josh now and say 'what do you think? What do you do.' And again, I don't want to make it like I'm just giving him kudos, but Foster Loyer has been so good on that bench. He's got play sheets and play cards. My captains have acted like captains and that is so good to see people grow, not just as players. They're all really good students, but they've all grown as people and for that I'm proud.

On the game play in the final three minutes and how the captains and leaders were helping the team stay controlled…
Well, first of all, my coaches. I think this was Dane Fife's scout. We did a good job of knowing what plays they were going to run down the stretch and Josh has watched so much film, he was talking to everybody about that. We decided to put the ball in Aaron's hands on those ball screens, we thought we could get Joey on a blur because they're going to put so much attention to Aaron and sure enough he knocked down that big three, which was really big at the time. So that was the game plan – put it in Aaron's hands. We ran some things for him and Josh. Josh made a great feed into Marcus, who made a bucket. Aaron made a great feed to Joey, who made a bucket. So it wasn't always about them scoring. Then they each hit those elbow, free-throw line jump shots that were game-winners. Don't underestimate Josh's blocks and rebounds. I didn't see the play were we got a big rebound and they called a foul on Josh off the ball, so I don't know what happened there. I thought last week was physical, this week was more physical.

And I will say this, I love Ohio State's team. I think Chris has done as good of a job as anybody in this league when you look at what he has and the size. Boy, I'll tell you, he's got a couple guys. Liddell – he's a man, I really enjoy him. Washington is really good and Ahrens has been so good. They've got a lot of very, very, very good players that aren't maybe superstars, but you talk about a connected group. It's fun to be down on the floor and listen to them talk. So there is no doubt they're still a 1 seed in my mind. Everybody doesn't realize that people are beating people in other conferences, but in our conference there are so many good teams that there is never a night off. Sometimes you just wear down a bit. I'm ecstatic. I'm not sure we've had many weeks when we've beaten and No. 4 and 5-ranked team in the country, so I'm going to enjoy it for 20 more minutes.

Junior Forward Aaron Henry

On taking control in the last 10 minutes…
"I'm trying to win. I got away from overthinking earlier in my career, I'm just trying to win, and I know how to win at this level. I've won before. Coach put me in great positions, he puts the ball in my hands and to be here in this position, it's nothing shy of a blessing. For the faith that he has in me and my teammates is overwhelming. I'm really proud of our team. It's easy to say that with the ball in my hands at the point, I make things happen down the stretch, but the guys fought tonight in the last 20 minutes. Me and Josh had the last 8 minutes of the first half, but the guys really came in and played their hearts out and played together."

On beating two top 5 teams and what's ahead…
"One day at a time, not even one game. Tomorrow we are headed to an off day, watch some things, and see what we could of did things better, prepare for Maryland on Sunday. One day at a time and just try and win the day."

On making plays that matter most…
"Playing connected. We are playing as a team, we are playing together, not just offensively but defensively guys are not only raising their play, but we are becoming more together and more connected and it's good to see. When the ball is moving, and we are playing defense on one accord and we just look so together and so connected. That something that Ohio State really is. They play together, they play connected. They know where everybody likes the ball. Big guys, guards, it doesn't matter. They play connected and we try to do that with us."

On getting fast break points…
"That's good. It's a testament to our defense and rebounding. We can't get a break if we don't do those two things and we are doing a better job on that end and so it opens up everything and everything for us and if we do that, we are going to be tough to beat."

On the momentum that you have…
"It doesn't change the recipe; we will continue to take it one day at a time. We can't amount to anything other than that and just continue to get closer and continue to head into this day tomorrow on off day with film and come with an open mind and yeah, we just beat two top 5 teams but where can we get better. What can we do to change these things and where can we grow. We have to continue to be hungry, never satisfied. I mean we've all won in that locker room before. I like to say don't applaud the fish for swimming. Fish swim all day; Spartans have won before. We have won before and we have to continue to do that take it one day at a time."

On your wrist hurting…
"I think I spun, and he came and trapped me, and I jammed my finger. I did something to it, and it started to bother me, so I just taped it. It's not stopping nothing. I'm good, I'll play if I have one finger. It doesn't matter."
On turning things around late and where it takes you…
"Never too high, never too low. We've had some lows throughout the season and obviously this run is an upswing, but you got to stay hungry, you got to stay wanting to get better. No game is perfect so you can grow in some area. You have to watch film tomorrow and be prepared to get better and come with an open mind on what we need to do to grow."

On the determination you showed…
"I don't get tired. We just played so together. I'm just trying to replay those last few possessions back, and man, it was team defense, it was team rebounding. Everything was connected. The plays that we were running, we were on just one accord and just followed the scouting report and ran the plays Coach Izzo had for us and that was that."

On the field goal you had with 1:10 to go…
"I felt he was going to try and cut me off at the rim, so I got to my spot. I love to play at mid-range, and I knocked down the shot."

On Josh's field goal in the last minute…
"I called that at six in the morning. It's not a day where he's not taking that when I walk in the gym and at six in the morning. That was going in when it left his hand."

Ohio State Head Coach Chris Holtmann
On how the game changed in the last couple of minutes…
"They made a few more shots and we had trouble finishing around the basket. We missed a couple clean looks."

On your frustration today…
"I'm not going to talk specifically about the officiating. Give them credit, they played more physical and played with more force. It's my fault on the technicals."

On Justin not taking a lot of shots being a problem…
"He's getting a lot of attention. I thought he had created some things with the space. He had a couple transition baskets that he didn't make but not concerned about him."

On team's defensive performance…
"Not in the second half. I think middle part of the first and second half, I thought it was good but di not like how we finished the game. I did not like how we started the game defensively. That's my fault, we got to fix that."

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