NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: REGIONAL SEMIFINAL - MICHIGAN STATE VS KANSAS STATE

March 23, 2023

Tom Izzo

Tyson Walker

A.J. Hoggard

Joey Hauser

Madison Square Garden

Michigan State Spartans

Sweet 16 Postgame Media Conference

Kansas State 98, Michigan State 93 (OT).

TOM IZZO: I give a lot of credit to Kansas State. They made some big plays down the stretch. They made some big plays early. Been part of a lot of big wins, and I've been part of a lot of tough losses. Never been prouder of a team because we didn't have our game tonight. We did not play like we were the first half. It was just kind of we were ham-and-egging it and just kind of fighting through it.

We just kept fighting. Those two shot clock threes they hit, one was a bank in from almost on the ground, and then we missed some free throws, some of our better guys. It just wasn't -- they made some plays, and we did some strange things.

We played our butt off. The bounce-back after what we were shooting and shoot almost 50 percent from the field. I guess it was 52 from the three, 82 from the line, out-rebounded them. The game was lost with these 16 points off turnovers they got compared to our twos. Turnovers was one thing we were concerned with.

Then those timely shots they hit.

But these guys battled back. Ty was struggling early. Joey was hot. A.J. was just in the middle of it. A.J. really came along late, then Ty did, then Joey did. I'm proud of them. I'm really proud of them. I don't say that about a lot of teams. But what they've done in the last couple weeks, how they've grown.

I give a lot of credit to Kansas State, but boy, it was their night with some of those shots that went in. That's it.

Q. Tyson, the final play there, could you describe what happened as you were going up and I guess Nowell's hand came in? Can you describe it?

TYSON WALKER: They knew we needed a three to tie the game up, and they just played it really well. They switched, and they just guarded the three-point line well. He made a good play, and none of us could get a clean look, and they got a stop.

Q. Joey, what was the conversation in the huddle before that last offensive possession? Were you guys expecting them to foul being up by three? Was the plan to get a shot early, later? What was the plan there?

JOEY HAUSER: We knew we needed a three. We executed the play pretty well, had a good look at it, passed it up, and then after that, it's tough to get a good look at it after that. Yeah, and just didn't get the shot off.

Q. For the players, can you put into words the disappointment of having come so close, losing in overtime here in the third round?

A.J. HOGGARD: You know, super disappointing. We wanted to win. We were so close to our goal. Just proud of my guys. We just couldn't figure out a way to close the game tonight. That's pretty much it.

JOEY HAUSER: Yeah, just sucks right now, but everybody played their butts off, so you can't hang your head.

TYSON WALKER: You know, I wish we'd be having practice tomorrow, but we don't. We played hard. We put some games together. You can't be mad about it.

Q. A.J. there's been a lot of talk about the new Wilson basketball this postseason. I'm curious your thoughts on if it played a factor in tonight's result.

A.J. HOGGARD: Both teams had to play with the same ball.

TOM IZZO: Good answer.

Q. When they're making some of those shots that Tom referenced, whether it's the banked-in one or the deep contested threes, how tough is it to overcome those just as a team in general, not let that overtake and beat you guys down in those moments?

TYSON WALKER: The game is a game of runs. People make shots. Just got to respond. It wasn't the first time we seen people make shots. We came down and made shots. It wasn't like we didn't shoot it well today. We shot it really well.

We just didn't get stops. That's really it.

JOEY HAUSER: Yeah, both teams made plays. They just happened to make a couple more at the end of the game.

A.J. HOGGARD: This time of year it's about who's going to make the plays at the right time. We didn't get the stops when we needed them, and they capitalized off them.

Q. A.J. later portions of the game you started going to the rim. What did you see when you were able to finish some big shots downhill? What did you see that kind of ignited that?

A.J. HOGGARD: You know, they were just staying tight to my shooters and they were just being aggressive. Just doing what I could do to help us win the game, just trying to put my best foot forward. I made plays, but I didn't make enough for us to win.

Q. As upperclassmen, how hopeful and excited are you for the future of Michigan State basketball, and what can a run like this, one where you guys take down a No. 2 seed and a favorite in Marquette, what can a tournament run like this do for the program in the future and help build momentum towards something even greater?

A.J. HOGGARD: I mean, when you come to Michigan State, you're supposed to do things like this. I'm just so happy I could do it with this group of guys. It's definitely hope around the corner, but just right now just can't even think about the future.

TYSON WALKER: You know, Coach is coach; he makes runs. He's got a good group of guys coming in, good guys still here. I won't be surprised if he does it again and goes even further.

JOEY HAUSER: Yeah, same thing. Coach is coach. Like he knows how to win these games. I'm glad that we got a little bit of a taste of it. But these guys got an incredible team coming back next year, so definitely they'll try and make a run and get even farther.

Q. Tom, I don't know how many games you've been through like this where you guys are hitting shots and they're hitting shots and they're coming from everywhere. What were you thinking as that was unfolding, just get one stop or --

TOM IZZO: Yeah.

Q. What was in your mind?

TOM IZZO: Yeah, at the end, one stop. In that first half, those two shot clock ones were real killers, and whoever asked the question, it does break your back. You think you play pretty good D, a loose ball. He comes flying in and banks it. You say, well, it's just one shot, but I talked to my team at the hotel before we left, and you try to talk about the importance of one shot, one turnover, one free throw, and you can't harp on them because then guys get nervous and uptight.

But there's a difference in winning and losing. That's just the way it is. It's the sport we're in. The "my bad" has got to go away. We made some plays that weren't right, but the way those shots went in -- and we hit some shots, too. But they made a couple -- the Massoud kid made a couple of bombs, but those were at least good shots.

The fall-down end of the shot clock ones, you kind of start thinking it's not your night. Then when Joey goes to the line and misses the front end of a one-and-one, he's a 91 percent free-throw shooter. Those are tough things to overcome.

And yet it's sure as hell not their fault. I was proud of A.J. the way he stepped up. I thought Tyson felt a little pressure being home, and he just wasn't the same early, but he bounced back.

It was fun -- it must have been a hell of a game for TV, hell of a game for the fans.

I think for me, I played for the Big Ten, too. It was really important to me when you've been in a league 40 years that you love and cherish and you know how good it is, and we can't get another National Championship. Even that stuff is on my mind because I know how good my league is, and I know how good the teams are and the coaches are. Yet it never looks good when you don't have a team moving on through the Sweet 16.

Q. Jud always used to say more games are lost than won. Is it fair to say that this was a game that Kansas State won, not one that Michigan State lost?

TOM IZZO: Yeah, you know, when you have 16 to 2 points off turnovers, you've got to give us a little bit of blame and give them a little bit of credit. But I would agree with that. I sure as hell am proud of my team, even stuff like that.

But they just made some incredible shots. We made some good plays. I guess we couldn't stop them, and I'm sitting there looking at the stats, and I'm talking about how good they were. They shot 55 percent, but I think they had -- including the lay-up at the end, I think they had about six lay-ups off of turnovers. They shot 45 from the three, and we thought they made every shot. We shot 52.

They shot 68 from the line, we shot 82. We out-rebounded them by seven. We did enough things, too, that we played pretty damned good and should be proud of that. Whenever you lose, you're never proud of anything, and when you have some mistakes that were kind of effort related, not getting back and things, that's going to be hard to watch the film.

But I was just proud of this team. As many teams as I've had that have gone far and lost because the way this team, the way they grew the last couple of weeks, it was fun to see happen.

Q. You guys took a lot of lumps this year whether it be the injuries or the tough schedule at the beginning. And then throughout this game a lot of lumps, going down five heading out of the locker room. But just kept getting off the mat, maybe not this game at the very end. But when you think back about the season, is resiliency going to be one of the ways to describe this team?

TOM IZZO: Oh, for sure, and I don't know how many lumps -- we did have some injuries and went through some things during the year. But the lumps, no matter what anybody says, top to bottom, I have no problem standing up and saying we have the best league in the country. When you have that number of teams beating the hell out of each other every day, I don't think we're worn out from it. I just think you get a bad seed from it.

So we had all these teams with 7, 8, and 9 seeds. I'm not saying that was wrong, but that's what happens when -- I'd like to see some teams come in and survive this league and the places we play. I'm going to become a big Badger fan. I'm going to pull for them in the NIT.

I'm proud of my team, but I'm proud of the league, too. Disappointments is disappointments, but I think as a 7 seed, maybe we showed how good our league was instead of, like some people, the other way around.

Q. Tom, your team gave up some back-cuts. It's rare to see a Michigan State team beaten to the rim. What was going on with that?

TOM IZZO: Yeah, I think two things. We got caught mesmerized on Nowell. He's a special player. We actually did a pretty good job on him. When you look at -- he gets that last one or he would have been 6 for 18, has 18 points, but he was 2 for 6 from the three. It was the assists that really killed us and the back cuts. I think we were mesmerized on him. We did not do a very good job of that. That was one of the disappointments.

That's what makes him a great player. It's not only the plays he makes but the position he puts people in that put you backpedaling. I really was disappointed in some of those back cuts because we had really talked about them. The lob at the end we had talked about out of a time-out.

I think we had played so many guys so long, I think we just sort of wore down. We got caught -- Mady struggled, we got caught with our bigs, so then we went with Malik and Joey. So then we went smaller, which was okay. We kept playing those guys. We hardly gave Tyson and A.J. much of a rest, and I think that hurt us, too.

Blame the coach, not the players on that. We lost a little vision, and that's what happens when you get fatigued.

Q. Coach, prior to the season, there was a lot of skepticism, whether that be with the center spot or the non-conference schedule. Despite the score of the game and the final result, all things considered, do you look back at the season and think, wow, they did pretty good, looking back at everything?

TOM IZZO: You know, for a guy who always thinks the glass is half empty, and I've said this many a times, for some reason I believed in this team all year long. It wasn't just the teams we played, it's when we played them. The crazy road trip to Portland and be there and come back on a Monday morning at 7:30 and leave for Notre Dame the next day. I did some stupid things, too, in scheduling.

You know, when you look back on everything, you're going to see some players tonight that didn't do their job, and you're going to see a coach that -- that led to some of the things. The injuries -- everybody has injuries, but to have two main guys out when we didn't go fishing, it was probably -- it'll go down as one of the great years for me, not a good year.

It'll go down as one of the great years, because we had our issues during the year and watching guys grow at the end and just kind of buy in. That's what happens. When you buy in and you trust the coach and Coach trusts the players, some cool things can happen.

We'll see if we can take this thing and build on it and get back to normal. COVID is over, been a lot of stuff these classes have been through in all schools, and I feel better about my job. I feel better about getting through to kids. I feel better about maybe coaching them and not managing them, and that's a good thing.

Q. Tom, you mentioned coaching and not managing and all the things that these guys have been through. You think of players like Joey and Malik with COVID and last season and Tyson, a lot of these guys aren't going to be here next year. Obviously that's still all up in the air. But with all that in mind and what a year it's been, what did you say to some of those guys in the locker room right after? How do you deal with the emotions that they're going through in that time?

TOM IZZO: I told them I was proud as hell of them and I love every one of them. That's what I told them. We can look at the -- I can look at a million things that we did wrong. I can look at some things that I did wrong. Ball screen coverage, strung us out, then we went with some lineups that wasn't the normal when we had those two smalls in there. I mean, that Massoud kid really hurt us and maybe we didn't prepare for him enough.

There's always blame that can go for everybody, but to fight back like we did over and over, as you say, get off the mat as many times as we did, go through the things we went through, you feel good about them. I just wish -- I really believed when we were three up that we were going to win that game and this team was destined. That's what I believed all year.

Yet credit goes to Kansas State, so I don't want to take any credit away from them. They made bigger shots, tougher shots, big plays, and I don't know how many turnovers they had, but that was the difference.

They've been turning it over 15 times and had five, we've been turning it over 10 times and had 13. But it's those points off turnovers. I call them turnovers for touchdowns and we had too many of those, and that's why their shooting percentage was so high. So we've got to live with it. You've got to own it.

The key is now can you learn from it, and that'll be the challenge because our league is not getting any worse. Too many damn good coaches. And so next year will be another challenging year. And as you know, after we play musical chairs here and let all the people figure out who's going where and what's going to happen, we'll sit down and see who we got, who we get to coach, and see if we can make a magical run only a little farther than we did this year.