Tom Izzo tied Bob Knight’s record for Big Ten victories on his third try, with Michigan State’s 86-74 win Saturday, setting up an opportunity to clinch it at the expense of the program Knight coached to three national championships.
Izzo got to Big Ten win No. 523 at the expense of an Oregon team that led his No. 9 Spartans 50-36 at halftime at Breslin Center, in front of reuniting members of his 2000 national championship squad. One of them was especially thrilled about how it unfolded. Jason Richardson, a precocious five-star freshman on that team, watched son and MSU freshman Jase Richardson bury the Ducks with 29 points on just 13 shots.
Jase Richardson cooked ’em with the HANDLES 😤 That bucket got Pops HYPE! @JaseRich4 x @MSU_Basketball pic.twitter.com/UxCD8ZYpbE
— FOX College Hoops (@CBBonFOX) February 8, 2025
Richardson started at point guard in place of sophomore Jeremy Fears, who was out with a stomach virus. Illness kept key reserve forward Xavier Booker out of the game, too, but Richardson and a complete defensive turnaround for MSU (19-4, 10-2 Big Ten) in the second half flipped the game. That included a soaring, Jason Richardson-like blocked shot from his son.
“That was not a pretty first half — I don’t give a (expletive) about the first half,” Izzo said afterward, addressing the Breslin crowd, and he later added: “Hopefully you all feel a part of it.”
Izzo missed two opportunities last week to tie the late Knight — who won national titles at Indiana in 1976, 1981 and 1987 — in losses at USC and UCLA. He goes for the record Tuesday at Breslin Center against the Hoosiers, coached by Mike Woodson, a great player for Knight at Indiana who will be stepping down as coach at the end of this season.
The fading Ducks (16-8, 5-8) hit 10 3-pointers in the first half. It was 50-24 Spartans in the second half. Questions about the quality of Michigan State’s work to date, considering a back-loaded Big Ten schedule, were destined to grow in volume around halftime.
Now it’s back to the question of the Big Ten race and hopes for a high NCAA Tournament seed. This kept MSU tied with Purdue and Michigan in the loss column atop the Big Ten race. This was the fifth straight loss and a sixth out of seven games for Dana Altman’s team, which looked like a strong NCAA Tournament top-four seed not long ago but is plummeting into less comfortable territory.
The good news for Oregon: Those wins over Alabama, Texas A&M, Ohio State and Maryland will hold up. And the rest of the Big Ten schedule lightens up and provides opportunity to get things rolling in the right direction again.
Michigan State’s schedule does the opposite. The next five after Indiana: at Illinois, Purdue, at Michigan, at Maryland, Wisconsin. The Spartans profile as a top-four seed right now and could still make a push for a No. 2 seed. But there’s still a lot to learn about them.
(Photo: Rey Del Rio / Getty Images)
