Tom Izzo and the Spartans fell into the first of two matchups this time against the Michigan Wolverines this season. With the game in East Lansing, Michigan State was hoping to have a leg up on the Wolverines, but instead fell 83-71 in what was a hard-fought basketball game.
After the game, Izzo did as he always does and went and shook the hand of Michigan head coach Dusty May and went on his merry way through the rest of the line and then to the locker room. Apparently, something must have been seen by the reporters because in his post-game press conference, Izzo was asked about the handshake.
Izzo was visibly annoyed and frustrated by the question, which makes sense because there were bigger things to focus on than a handshake after the final buzzer.
"Some guys I talk to. I have no interest in talking to my rival. Some guys I don’t,” Izzo said. "I walked by, it was a handshake. It was probably no different than the one last year if you really got down to it."
Tom Izzo spoke about the postgame handshake with Dusty May.
— Brad Galli (@BradGalli) February 2, 2026
“Some guys I talk to. I have no interest in talking to my rival. Some guys I don’t,” he said.
“It was not a... it was a handshake. I walked by, it was a handshake. It was probably no different than the one last year if… pic.twitter.com/XCU26ItgLJ
Izzo even called out the media, saying that there was no need for that to be the focus of a question because there were many other things to have focused on from the game. These were two great basketball teams going against each other, and if the biggest question a reporter can ask is about the post-game handshake, then something is wrong somewhere.
Michigan State and Michigan was even more heated than usual on the hardwood
With Michigan's win over the Spartans in Breslin Center on Friday, it was the first win the Wolverines had in the building since 2018. Many things happened in what is already a heated rivalry game, but it seemed even hotter on Friday night.
Izzo ended up with a technical foul, and May felt the need to call out Michigan State for what he deemed "dangerous players." May cited one play where it looked like Michigan State's Jeremy Fears Jr. appeared to trip Michigan's Yazel Lendeborg, and May did not hold back on what he thought about it.
"Appeared?” May said during media availability on Monday. “It wasn’t an illusion. I think there were several plays that are very dangerous, and I am incredibly proud of our guys for the responses they had to some of those situations.”
Izzo was asked about what May said, and the Michigan State head coach simply put it that there were poor decisions on Michigan's side as well. In all honesty, Izzo doesn't care what May had to say on it all; he addressed the issues, and he is leaving it at that.