Tom Izzo refuses to give his team their flowers despite close win over Ohio State

With less than two minutes left in the second half, No. 15 Michigan State had a double-digit lead over Ohio State, and it felt like the game was well enough in hand for the Spartans. However, the Buckeyes went on to score seven straight points to pull within three late, forcing Michigan State to tighten up late.

The Spartans were able to hold on late for the close six-point win, and it was clear after the game that head coach Tom Izzo wasn't happy. Even though his team was able to hold on against an Ohio State that is on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament, Izzo expected more from his guys.

"I was really disappointed in our performance. I am happy with a win," Izzo said in an on-court interview after the game. "Let me tell you, I have played good and lost, I've played bad and won, today we played awful and won."

Leading scorer Carson Cooper couldn't even get praise from Tom Izzo after Ohio State win

Carson Cooper scored a career-high 20 points against Ohio State on Sunday, and Izzo couldn't even give him flowers for his performance. Izzo pushed off the career day for Carson and focused more on the defensive effort from his senior.

"He scored some points," Izzo said. "Defensively, I can't give him those flowers, I'm sorry, we just did not do the things that we set out to do."

Ohio State certainly isn't a team that was going to be an easy matchup for Michigan State. The Buckeyes are fighting for a spot in the NCAA Tournament and gave the Spartans everything that they could handleand almost walked away with an upset win, and Izzo certainly will give them credit for it.

However, after feeling like Michigan State had as good of practices as they could leading up to the matchup, Izzo couldn't believe his team played the way they did. Izzo has never been one to mince words, and he certainly let his team know that he was unhappy with their performance.