Michigan State has a track record of exiting the NCAA Tournament early, and on Thursday night, they did just that, losing a thriller in overtime to UCLA in the No. 11 seeded 'First Four' game.
But the Spartans' loss didn't grab the headlines more than head coach Tom Izzo's heated exchange with junior forward Gabe Brown at halftime. Just after the buzzer sounded, while teams jogged toward the locker rooms, TV cameras caught Izzo grabbing Brown's left arm and jersey from behind. The effort to also grab Brown's attention failed, as he kept walking away in frustration, unwilling to confront Izzo.
During Friday's show, Tiki and Tierney gave their thoughts on the outburst, and whether or not Izzo went too far.
"I thought good for Tom Izzo for trying to get that young man's attention, or at least command his attention the way that a coach, a teacher should be trying to for a kid that's barking back at him," Tiki said. "The first thing I thought was, 'Why isn't this kid listening?' Coach Izzo was trying to tell him something and he was screaming right back at him, which may be the way that they handle their disputes. But it just felt odd for a kid to be screaming back at a coach like Tom Izzo, and Tom Izzo didn't take kindly to it...
"Look, he didn't slap him. He didn't grab him by the throat, he didn't do anything violent, per se. This was just an attention method for Tom Izzo. And I saw nothing wrong with it. That young man needs to be coached, and Coach Izzo was trying to coach him and that was his way of getting his attention. I know a lot of people are making a big deal about this. I don't see it that way, necessarily."
Tierney couldn't have agreed more with Tiki's points.
"I'm totally with you here," Tierney said. "The way this is painted, it's one of two ways. It's very rarely down the middle. It's more, Izzo's out of line, or the young player is out of line for ignoring, disrespecting, or a combination of both, authority. And it's funny, because the way it's framed by those who are not comfortable with it -- 'Izzo's too aggressive, that's unacceptable in the year 2021' -- the other side is, well, the player needs to respond to authority and needs to respond to coaching.
"And it's funny, Tiki and I were both born in the '70s, so it's not hard to understand which one we gravitate to. And we were both ballplayers -- he was a good one, I was not -- but we both liked to be coached hard and never had a problem with it."
You can follow the Tiki and Tierney Show on Twitter @TikiAndTierney and Tom Hanslin @TomHanslin.