Put another tally in the win column for Michigan State as the Spartans and Tom Izzo snuck right past the red-hot Illinois Fighting Illini for an 80-78 win on Sunday afternoon.
For the first time since Cassius Winston was still running the point, the Spartans are 16-2 to begin the season and 7-0 in the Big Ten. Mind you, this is a league where anybody can beat anybody as we've seen with USC going to Illinois and picking up a win as well as Michigan going on the road against winless (in the Big Ten) Minnesota and losing at the buzzer.
This is the best Michigan State team in about five years and it feels like Izzo finally has his program back after looking like a shell of himself for a few years -- outside of the 2023 NCAA Tournament.
And his Spartans picked up their biggest win of the season on Sunday against Illinois and many players on the team echoed that same sentiment. But Michigan State didn't exactly play its best game and was fortunate that star Illini guard Kasparas Jakucionis was in foul trouble all afternoon and played just nine minutes.
Izzo knew this and said that it was a great game but that Illinois is still the best team in the Big Ten during his opening statement in his post-game presser, per Spartans Illustrated.
Tom Izzo now speaking: "Wow, just another day in paradise, I guess. I hope our fans appreciate one of the better games (of the season). It was a crazy game."
— Spartans Illustrated (@SpartansRivals) January 19, 2025
Says he still thinks Illinois is the best team in the Big Ten right now.
The "right now" is important because also stated in his post-game presser was the idea that Michigan State isn't near its ceiling yet which means the team is winning but not currently playing its best.
Michigan State still has some work to do, as we saw, but Izzo is being realistic and he's not letting his team get too comfortable. He wants them to "be different".