Michigan State basketball has been playing well this season, and they got a big win against Indiana, defeating them 81-60. Head coach Tom Izzo has liked the play from his team, and he may not know the exact motivation for it, but he recently took a wild guess.
“It's fun when guys take challenges, and maybe it's to stick it to me,” Izzo said. “Maybe it's to stick it to somebody else. Hell, maybe it's to stick it to my mother. Who knows what the reason is? Who really cares what the reason is? The bottom line is, do we get it done, and we are getting better today. We got better defensively with each and every player.”
"Who knows what the reason is? And who really cares what the reason is?"@MSU_Basketball HC Tom Izzo on his players stepping up to challenges even if it's "to stick it to his mother." pic.twitter.com/dLVeTpAiTL
— FOX College Hoops (@CBBonFOX) January 24, 2026
Izzo doesn't matter how his team gets the job done, as long as they're able to continue to win games. There's no doubt that he loves to challenge them, and he's been finding different ways to do so. Just a few games ago, he challenged Kur Teng about his defense, and he let him know he couldn't do a better job than his own mother.
“Kur, you can't guard my mother. My mother!” Izzo said in the video posted by Fox Sports.
It looks like players are receptive to the criticism, and it's helping them become better as a unit.
It will be interesting to see how things continue to play out as the season progresses and if they can keep up the level of play that they've been displaying on a nightly basis.
