Michigan State Coach Tom Izzo Comments On His Technical Foul, And More After 80-64 Loss To Ohio State

No. 1 Michigan State suffered a brutal 80-64 road loss to Ohio State on Sunday night, and Spartans coach Tom Izzo had much to say about the defeat to the Buckeyes.

Michigan State vs. Ohio State basketball score

“I was disappointed that I thought our lack of offense dictated our defense, and that shouldn’t happen,” said Izzo. “That should travel. As far as Nick Ward goes, give them credit. They did a good job on him. And give us blame. We did a poor job getting him the ball. When he did kick it out, we didn’t kick it back in.”

Michigan State (15-2, fourth in Big Ten) is the 10th top-ranked team to lose this weekend, and the fourth squad inside this week’s AP AP top 10 to fall since Saturday. The Spartans were coming off a 14-game winning streak.

Izzo also commented on the technical foul he received near the end of the first half.

“I’m gonna take a lot of the blame,” he said. “Not to take any heat off my team. I don’t do that. But I thought that stretch cost us a lot, and I was disappointed with the way it was being officiated at that point, and that [no-call] on [Jaren Jackson Jr.], I thought, was not very good.”

Led by Big Ten leading scorer Keita Bates-Diop who finished with a career-high 32 points on 12-of-21 shooting, the Buckeyes used a 12-0 run to end the first half and built a lead they would maintain for the rest of the game at Value City Arena.

“When you’re 15-2, 14-3, 15-3 … you’ve got to handle things a little differently because you’re gonna get somebody else’s best shot,” said Izzo. “I thought we got the crowd’s best shot. I think we got their team’s best shot, and they deserved what they got, and we deserved what we got.”

Izzo was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016.

Ohio State (13-4, first in Big Ten) won’t play another ranked opponent in Big Ten play for the rest of January, which means the Buckeyes could have the opportunity to keep their top spot in the league.

The Buckeyes have won three straight games. They next host Maryland on Thursday, while the Spartans will host Rutgers on Wednesday.