Tom Izzo was Tom Izzo’s toughest opponent in loss to Indiana

On a night that was supposed to be celebrating Tom Izzo for breaking Bob Knight’s all-time Big Ten wins record, it was the Hall of Fame head coach who stood in his own way.

It was a valiant effort down the stretch by the Spartans, climbing back into the game with a couple of minutes left, even drawing within two with 30 seconds left after dropping behind 61-52. That 8-1 run down the stretch was huge and it gave fans some hope with time running out, but the Spartans’ own undoing was their poor shooting against the 2-3 zone which has been a common theme over the past couple of decades.

Death. Taxes. Izzo failing to figure out the 2-3 zone.

Michigan State raced out to a 20-8 lead in the first 10 minutes on Tuesday night, looking like it would cruise to Izzo’s record-breaking win, but the Hoosiers switched to a zone and it was all over.

The Hoosiers ended the first half on a 23-9 run and Michigan State struggled to keep things tight, falling behind by 5-9 points throughout the second half, eventually pulling within one with seconds remaining. But everyone knew what the final result was looking like as the Hoosiers were fouling up three and basically crushing any hope Michigan State had of hitting a game-tying three (not that it would’ve dropped anyway).

This game which was supposed to be a celebration of Izzo became a highlight of his shortcomings over the years. He couldn’t construct a game plan to crack the zone, struggling mightily to shoot the ball and failing to crawl back into the game with poor ball movement and shot selection holing him down.

Needing his point guard and team leader to step up and make some big plays, Izzo couldn’t seem to squeeze any offensive life out of him. Yes, I get that he can’t make Jeremy Fears do more nor can he make his guys hit open shots, but he knew that the zone was killing his poor-shooting team and he didn’t make enough necessary adjustments. This loss is on him.

This loss was disappointing, this team is starting to concern people, and Izzo should take full responsibility for this recent stretch.

Awful.