The Spartans mauled Michigan in the second half for an 81-62 victory on Tuesday night in East Lansing to give Michigan State basketball coach Tom Izzo yet another milestone: 700 wins. He’s one of 38 men’s basketball coaches with 700 wins at the Division I level. (He’s the second to reach the plateau this season, after Gonzaga’s Mark Few; Izzo’s pal, Oakland’s Greg Kampe, is 13 wins away, with 688 victories). Even more impressive, all 700 of Izzo’s wins have come with the Spartans.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TOM! Izzo notches 700th career win, on birthday, 81-62 over Michigan
Here’s a look back at Izzo’s milestone victories at MSU:
1: MSU 69, Chaminade 66
Nov. 20, 1995: Izzo, who had spent the five years as the right-hand man to longtime MSU coach Jud Heathcote, started his time in the top job off right, with a win over the Silverswords to open the Maui Invitational in in Hawaii. It didn’t come easy, though; MSU needed 19 second-half points from forward Quinton Brooks and a missed 3-pointer at the end by Chaminade to get the victory.
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600: MSU 77, Ohio State 70
March 15, 2019: Call this “The Foster Loyer Game,” in MSU lore as the Spartans dropped the Buckeyes in the Big Ten tournament quarterfinals at the United Center in Chicago. The freshman guard from Clarkston subbed in for Cassius Winston and went on a heater, hitting four of five 3-point attempts to match his previous season total — four in 20 tries — in 18 minutes off the bench and finishing with 14 points. Of course, it could also be “The Cassius Winston Game,” as Winston returned from an early benching — following three turnovers — to score eight points in the final 3:30 of the first half and add another 10 points in the second half while dishing out five assists and grabbing seven rebounds.
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