A Michigan State basketball season has come to an early end yet again for head coach Tom Izzo and the Spartans, but this end is not one the team should hang their heads on. After being down by more than 20 points early in the first half, the Spartans battled back and nearly took down Dan Hurley's Huskies.
When it seemed like it was going to be a runaway game for UConn, Izzo was able to get his team back on track, even making it a seven-point game at halftime. With 10 minutes left in the second half, Michigan State actually took a small lead, but UConn found a way to regain it.
While the Spartans may have been on the losing side of this game, Hurley knows what Michigan State showed proved the type of coach that Izzo is.
"It took a lot out of them to climb back into it, but I don't think you could have more respect for a program and a coach than we have for the Spartans and Tom Izzo," Hurley said post-game.
UConn HC Dan Hurley showed respect for Tom Izzo after sharing the sideline with the legendary coach following Friday night’s win. pic.twitter.com/1Nu34bwLzz
— FOX College Hoops (@CBBonFOX) March 28, 2026
Michigan State's locker room after the UConn loss is one that Tom Izzo will never forget
It is not easy to be in a losing locker room, especially after a loss that has ended a season. There are tears, there is frustration, but in Michigan State's locker room after its season-ending loss to UConn on Friday night, it was none of that.
Sure there was sadness about losing the game and the season being over, but there was also pride in what the Spartans achieved. After overcoming such an early and large deficit, Michigan State fought all the way back and didn't make things easy for the Huskies.
While Izzo didn't share everything that went down in the locker room, he talked about how the players came together and it ws something special he hopes to look back on years from now, and jokingly said he hopes it gives him a few extra years of life.