It was a tale of two halves in the “Battle at the Breslin” Tuesday night as Michigan State beat Michigan 81-62 to earn Tom Izzo his 700th career win on his 69th birthday.
In a showdown between two rivals having less-than-stellar seasons thus far, it was last-place Michigan (7-14 overall, 2-8 Big Ten) who dictated things in the first half, thanks to a lights-out 60.9% from the field and 55% from 3-point range.
But the Wolverines’ narrow two-point halftime lead quickly evaporated as MSU (13-8, 5-5) went on a 14-1 run from the 19:06 mark until the 16-minute media timeout.
From there on out, the rest of the night felt like a celebration for the Hall-of-Famer and winningest coach in Big Ten history, as the Spartans took their turn to shoot 60% from the floor in the second half to pick up their fourth win in five games.
The win makes Izzo the 10th active D-I head coach to reach the 700-win mark and the 11th coach to ever reach the milestone all while at one school.
Jaden Akins led the Spartans with a career-high 23 points on 7-of-10 3-point shooting. MSU finished 9-for-21 on the night from behind the line.
Izzo’s historic win wasn’t the only milestone surpassed on Tuesday, as A.J. Hoggard, with 15 points on the night, eclipsed the career 1,000-point mark, thanks to a late bucket that put the finishing touches on the win.
MSU managed just one fastbreak point in the first half, but finished the night with 16 after an excellent second half on both ends of the floor that saw the Wolverines shoot just 6-for-24 (25%).
“It means a lot because it was against our rival and it was here and the place was rocking, but I’m still 520-some behind Mike Krzyzewski, so I’m keeping it in perspective,” Izzo said on the Peacock broadcast following the game.
As for what he told the Spartans in the halftime locker room to turn things around, Izzo said, “you know what I said at halftime… I just can’t say it on your network.”
Izzo did say he was “disappointed” by the first-half effort, but was impressed with the second-half turnaround.
Izzo’s 700th win comes 10,300 days after his very first, a narrow win over Chaminade in the Maui Invitational.
“We knocked the hell out of Chaminade — we beat ‘em by two,” Izzo said on Peacock with a chuckle. “I had Jud Heathcote and Magic Johnson sitting behind me and we were losing most of the game, so this one was a lot more rewarding than that one to be very honest with you.”
The Spartans will look to turn the win over their rivals into momentum to beef up their resume as the program eyes a 26th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. With a little more than a month to go in the season, MSU was projected as an 8-seed in ESPN’s latest edition of bracketology ahead of Tuesday’s game.
MSU hosts Maryland, also 13-8 overall and 5-5 in Big Ten play, on Saturday at 5:30 p.m.
Juwan Howard and Michigan, meanwhile, having lost eight of nine, will look to stop the bleeding Saturday when they host Rutgers at Crisler Center at 4 p.m.
The two rivals will meet again in Ann Arbor on Saturday, Feb. 17 at 8 p.m.