Saturday’s 79-70 win over Oakland wasn’t pretty by Michigan State, but that’s exactly how this matchup goes every single year. Greg Kampe’s Golden Grizzlies give Tom Izzo’s Spartans a tough battle every single season, and it usually makes both teams a whole lot better.
You could tell that Kampe was prepared for this one just like he was a year ago when his team trailed by just one at halftime. This year, Oakland was down only three at the half.
And that was after leading for a good chunk of the first half.
Michigan State ended up “pulling away” and winning by nine, but it probably should have been in the 15-20-point win range, but the defense and transition offense left a lot to be desired. Izzo said in his post-game presser that the team has a lot to clean up.
He also made a statement about the future of this annual matchup, stating that it’s going to continue happening as long as he’s the head coach at Michigan State.
Tom Izzo: "As long as I am here, we will play this matchup."
— Emmett Matasovsky (@E_Matasovsky57) December 20, 2025
Hopefully it continues well after Izzo retires because this is one of those games that fans look forward to every December.
This matchup benefits both Michigan State and Oakland
Izzo said after the game that he likes Kampe’s team, and the Oakland head coach said the same about Michigan State. Kampe told Izzo that he believes that his team can hang with anyone and beat any team in the country — he has the pieces to win it all.
And this is coming from a mid-major coach who has faced Izzo 24 times and has seen some of his best teams. Despite only losing by nine, Kampe believes this Michigan State team is special.
While Michigan State didn’t play its best game, it got the best shot of one of the toughest mid-major programs out there. Oakland’s transition defense impressed me, as did its 3-point shooting. The Golden Grizzlies are undoubtedly going to get better because of this game, and it probably gave them a ton of confidence moving forward.
As for the Spartans, Izzo is going to have a ton on film to critique and improve moving forward. Michigan State won by just nine and played a C- game, so that’s at least a positive.
But, hey, let’s try not having more C- games moving forward (the Toledo game was also a C- effort).
I’m going to assume this Oakland performance got the C- efforts out of the system.