While Penn State basketball has looked better so far this season than it did last season, there was no reason for Michigan State to have such a close game with the Nittany Lions. The No. 9 Spartans went toe-to-toe with Penn State on Saturday, and head coach Tom Izzo did not appreciate how close the game was.
There was a big reason for the game being so close, and it was because Michigan State struggled on offense, especially on layups. Every basketball shot is hard, but the layup is meant to be the easiest, just use the backboard, hit the square, and the rest will take care of itself.
However, Izzo found out from an East Lansing reporter after the game that the Spartans were 6-for-18 on layups against Penn State. After truly praising the reporter for taking note of that stat, especially when it was also something Michigan State struggled with against Duke, Izzo didn't like the stat, but he was glad Christmas break was coming, so he could be a real coach again.
"That is ridiculous, we missed some against Duke, we missed some here," Izzo said. "You shouldn't win games when you do that."
"I'm going to rip their tail."
— FOX College Hoops (@CBBonFOX) December 13, 2025
Tom Izzo on his team's missed layups ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/MobHSJAUOj
Michigan State basketball is about to look very different over the Christmas break, as Izzo said his team will have two-a-days coming up now that they are out of classes. Izzo feels like, with no school, he and his assistants can be real coaches again and coach the way they actually like to coach.
Izzo even joked about how society would want him to fix this problem by nicely asking his guys to work on layups and congratulate them when they make one out of two. That has never been Izzo's style; instead, as he put it, he is going to rip their tail because it is ridiculous to miss those easy shots.
"I'm gonna make sure that that things gets fixed," Izzo said.
Be ready for Michigan State to get a lot better at layups because once Izzo wants something done, it usually gets done.