GREENVILLE, SC – MARCH 20: Coach Tom Izu of the Michigan State Spartans talks with #44 Gabe Brown of the Michigan State Spartans in the second half against the Duke Blue Devils during the second round of the 2022 men’s basketball tournament at Boone Secours Wellness Arena on March 20 2022 in Greenville, South Carolina. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
The Michigan State Spartans blew a five-point lead before losing to Duke. How much blame does Tom Izu have for the breakup?
For a minute in Greenville, March Madness magician Tom Izzo seemed ready to add another startling surprise to his resume. The Michigan State Spartans built a 70-65 lead over the Duke Blue Devils with 5:10 to go only to score 20-6 the rest of the way in loss 85-76.
All the attention from the college basketball media will focus on what Duke did right to secure a big win, but the fact of the matter is that the Spartans were five points ahead of a team vastly superior in terms of talent who lost starting guard AJ Griffin to a sprained ankle.
Those circumstances should have resulted in a win, but how much blame should the Hall of Fame coach take for the late meltdown?
Tom Ezo’s role in Michigan State’s loss
There were definitely some questionable decisions for Izzo along the length of the field, including a lack of surprising minutes for influential new student Max Christie, who delivered some big plays along the Spartans. Izzo also failed to come up with good games after the timeout because Michigan State was either too passive, wasting precious seconds looking for better shots that never came, or got too reckless and turned the ball around.
While the in-game strategy could certainly have improved from Izzo, the bottom line is Michigan State was doomed when the game got tight because the Spartans didn’t have a real man to count on to generate their own shot in the big places all season. Michigan State could score plenty of points when working off their offensive line, but this group was missing out on Draymond Green, Denzel Valentine or Cassius Winston for something when the plays got stuck.
This failure is a big reason why the Spartans couldn’t finish a stunning upset that would have ended Krzyzewski’s career earlier than anyone would have expected to enter the NCAA Championship. Izzo will need to work hard to find or develop this star next season in order to help Michigan State avoid another disappointing end in March.
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