Tom Izzo, Joey Hauser React to Michigan State's 82-69 Loss at Indiana

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo and senior forward Joey Hauser met with the media following the Spartans' 82-69 loss at Indiana on Sunday. Here's the full video and transcript of their postgame press conferences.

Jack Ankony | Jan 23, 2023

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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Following an 82-69 loss at Indiana on Sunday, Michigan State coach Tom Izzo talked about the negatives and positives that came from this game.

Here's Izzo's full transcript, plus video attached below.

Opening statement...

Izzo: Well, disappointed, encouraged, a lot of things to think about but got to give Indiana a lot of credit. A guy like Bates comes off the bench and hits five 3s and Galloway hits 3-for-3, that's the pick your poison. You can understand why sometimes I pick not to double or not dig, just depends which way you want to go. I thought we did a hell of a job early, we mixed it up, we came at them a lot of different ways, he wasn't hurting us. Then A.J. got that foul at the 10 minute mark and we played 10 minutes without A.J., fouls on the three and that was not a good foul. Eight minutes without Akins and without Malik Hall that's not a good thing. Pierre [Brooks] had some good looks, just didn't make them. We were playing the second half close a couple times but it was the end of the first half when we had those three freshmen in there. Not an easy place to play three freshmen and I thought they took advantage of us and they got that lead in the second and just couldn't cut it down. They played well, give them credit. Trayce is playing his best basketball. We did a decent job on Schifino. It was Bates that came in, I mean we didn't think Galloway would hit those. They're a 68 percent free throw shooting team and they shoot 90, so they did what they had to do to win and we did what we had to do to lose.

On momentum shift when Pierre Brooks double-teamed Trayce Jackson-Davis, who kicked the ball to Tamar Bates for a 3-pointer...

Izzo: It's tough and some of it is when [Brooks] did double we were supposed to have rotations. I'm not sure whose fault, but we understand Pierre is going to be limited defensively a little bit but you hop he can make shots and he's not making shots and when he's not doing that it's tough. But he played harder today so somethings that were encouraging. I thought Joey [Hauser] got the hell beat out of him and did a nice job. They were physical with him, grabbing and clutching and I didn't think we handled that real well for a while. Later on we started driving the ball and when we did, we had some success doing that. When you're playing on the road, a couple mistakes can really change things. A couple foul situations can really change things. And then we still have no substitution pattern. To be very blunt and honest with you, Tyson Walker got sick two nights ago and didn't practice or eat. This morning we didn't think he was going to play at breakfast so I give him a lot, a lot of credit, but he hadn't shot a ball. He had a stomach virus and this and that and he got a little better. They put things in his veins last night and today. But we're just not deep enough to go through those things. But I was impressed because I thought when I got Ty, when he got a little injury he was out and he grew up as a man today. He played as hard as he could play under the circumstances. That's what I meant about we just didn't have enough guys to go and win.

On fatigue setting in...

Izzo: I think the six games in 16 days caught up to us a little bit, especially guys like Joey and A.J. a little bit, although A.J. got a lot of rest in the first half he still played 27 minutes and he was out for 10 minutes. That's what I mean about rotations because I'm playing him almost the whole second half. Tre [Holloman] did some uncharacteristic things and we told him what to do and so we didn't feel as comfortable with him in the second half. He didn't do a bad job, but he's been playing pretty well. Jaxon did some nice things on offense, but struggles a little bit on defense. If he can score, you can do that. Those guys are getting better, even Carson [Cooper]. We needed A.J. and Jaden in the game and we needed Tyson to be 70 percent.

On how much trust he had in A.J. Hoggard and the officials to play with two fouls...

Izzo: You just said an oxymoron. I did trust A.J. although his second foul was not a smart foul. He's got to know better than that. But the way that game was going, I could have. I just want you to think about it because you all write for me, my group, you know I wonder what people are saying now they want me to double then you give up 3s. You put him in and he gets a foul, those are the things you've got to make decisions on. I thought when we put Tre in there he was doing a pretty good job and then he got a little bit ahead of himself and that happens, they sped us up a little bit. There was a thought but I just thought if we could keep it within five, we felt like we played good enough that in the second half we could. We did, so 16 minute mark we're there and just didn't do the job and they hit some big shots.

On deciding when to double-team Trayce Jackson-Davis...

Izzo: We mixed up today. We doubled a little bit. We couldn't double with the four because they're so good on the weak side so we doubled with a guard and we're supposed to rotate. Then we dug in there and had some success with digging in there. And you know what, you reverse it and guys don't make shots you're good. Against Purdue, they didn't, [Ethan] Morton didn't make shots. So those decisions, you go in there and you try to make them. What we're trying to do a little more is mix it up so were not as, everybody doesn't feel it. Then when we had certain lineups in there, like Tyson hadn't practiced a second. He watched a little bit of yesterday's practice but he wasn't doing well, so that makes it hard to make adjustments.

On Malik Hall's injury...

Izzo: Saturday I didn't think he'd play. I thought he'd warm up but he didn't warm up. Today he's trying to do a little something, but he's a little ways away. When, I have no idea. All I can do is support him. You know I think some of those are physical, some of those are mental, some of them are a combination and some of them are because the world right now is different. If you get injured you're different, so I don't know if he's injured or hurt. If he's injured, he's got to do what he's got to do. If he's hurt then you don't play.

On answering Indiana's runs...

Izzo: Yeah and I think we competed. But I think when you've got Joey and A.J. [Hoggard] in there the whole time, they just kind of wear down a little bit. They didn't look like they were wearing down, but a step slow here a step slow there, forget to box out on a big play that they hit a 3 on. Mady fouls the guy with four seconds left on the shot clock and just a goofy play. They missed a free throw and we pride ourselves on, they get the rebound and hit the shot, I think we've missed like two free throw cut outs all year and it's just one during that stretch. I know this sounds stupid, but I'm proud of the way we competed under the circumstances. They're playing good. The crowd was great. We didn't get much time and not having Tyson, we knew we wouldn't have Malik but we thought we would have Tyson and he played. He probably played a lot of minutes, but I'm just telling you, 32 minutes, I apologized to him three times, we just had no choice. We should have put him at the point and Tre was struggling there right before the half, but he was running on fumes.

On Mady Sissoko guarding Trayce Jackson-Davis and other good Big Ten forwards...

Izzo: Some of it is the rest of us and the game plan, but it's like the big kid from Illinois had a good game. Mayer the next game went 0-for-6 and he doesn't even look like he's in the game. That's right now what's going on with college basketball and it's amazing that in our league we have a lot of good bigs. I think Trayce Jackson has improved a ton. I think he's much better with the ball, I think he's passing the ball so much better. He actually missed some shots that I haven't seen him miss. He shot much better from the line I think. He's a 69-70 percent free throw shooter and he went 11-for-13. He's a good player. I really like Trayce. He's a good player and a couple of those other guys played better than I thought they would. That's what happens when guys play good and you're giving those other guys freedom on the outside pass.

On whether is Mady Sissoko losing confidence...

Izzo: Maybe. I didn't think Mady played as well. I think he got clocked pretty good early, which I thought was BS. I don't know if that – he just didn't seem himself, but yeah he's got to play better and we've go to rotate those guys in there more. We give up something and we get something. We get better offense or we get better defense. We're giving up something there, but that's why if we get Malik back we'll have options to do some things.

On recent slow starts but having a strong start against Indiana...

Izzo: Purdue and Rutgers, yeah. We put an emphasis on that, and I thought we did a hell of a job. We executed on offense, and we executed on defense. We did the things we wanted to do. We rebounded pretty well. They changed their lineup, too. You bring in guys, I thought you knew Thompson would come in but he was a big lift for them even though he didn't do much. The other kid that I thought played really well was Reneau. So they were bringing bodies in, but Joey held his own for the most part. I just thought that our bigs, I thought at the beginning of the game our bigs did a great job. I thought everybody played really well. I don't know what our biggest lead was, do you? 9, playing well and then foul trouble.

On if it was deflating to blow the lead after a strong start...

Izzo: No because I knew exactly why. With [A.J.] out, bring my other point guard in and he didn't play as well. Pierre came in and missed some shots, not his fault. You miss some you make some. But no, I know exactly why we lost that lead. A.J. and Jaden spent 8-10 minutes on the bench and it's easy to say, 'Well play them with foul trouble,' maybe I will. But I also got to get them rest. But like I said it's the timing. It's we have no continuity in our substitution. And I think if we can get our team back, like wouldn't you agree that Jaden the last couple of games is playing better and better, playing better defense, playing better running, playing better. Well it's because it's a month out and that's the hard part for Malik, but that's what happens when there's injuries.

On Jaden Akins...

Izzo: I thought this summer Jaden was definitely one of my best players, and I don't feel any different. He works hard, he's coachable, he does what he's supposed to do. He's got to rebound a little better, and there's more on his shoulders now. He's handling it and I really think if we had to do something different today, normally we were getting Tyson more shots, we needed to get Joey and Jaden more shots. 10 turnovers isn't awful, but not great. Both teams played hard. We got to the free throw line, and that's been one of our negatives. We got off to a good start, that's been one of our negatives. We're making some progress, then all of a sudden our 90-87 percent free throw shooters Joey and especially when A.J. missed two in a row that time, he missed two in a row against Purdue late in that game. Those hurt because those are mental blocks we have to get through.

On it being a chippy game...

Izzo: My guys didn't back down, but I didn't appreciate some of the things that happened including that first one. I didn't appreciate that one. That's okay. I like that, it's just that we didn't have enough bodies to really throw that edge and play and really get after somebody. I always like it, I just never know how it's going to be called. One minute grabbing and holding is called, one minute you can't touch somebody or you can hand check. I think the consistency is not good. I didn't have a problem with much of it today, I just thought it was one of the more physical games. We have played in these 16 days, maybe the three most physical teams in the league. Purdue, everybody knows Rutgers is, and then Indiana I think is a physical team. They've got size, they're physical so we learned a little bit. I'm not disappointed in my team. We're going to win some games, and if we get healthy we're going to get a lot better. We need that, I think it's taking a toll on Joey more than anybody.

Tom Izzo postgame press conference video

Michigan State senior forward Joey Hauser led the Spartans with 22 points. Here's what he said after the game.

On it being a physical and chippy game...

Hauser: I would say more so chippy a little bit. We let them get under our skin a little bit, some extra grabbing, extra talking, but it's a Big Ten game so that's kind of how it goes.

On wearing down physically as the game went on...

Hauser: A little bit. Every game I feel like has been like that the past three or four games so I've kind of gotten used to it by now, but definitely toward the end of the game I think we were feeling it a little bit."

On Indiana's second half run...

Hauser: It's just tough. In an environment like this, the crowd gets behind them and they make some big buckets, they have some guys knock down some big shots. Obviously we're not making excuses but we're down a couple guys and we started to feel that. Tyson wasn't his best today, wasn't feeling great, so it's hard but we've got to find a way to kind of suck it up.

On A.J. Hoggard and Jaden Akins getting into foul trouble...

Hauser: Yeah foul trouble was a problem. I'm trying to remember, they had a big play some time after we were on that run right away, but you could kind of just feel the momentum shifting. I think we were lucky to only be down a couple buckets at halftime because they made some big plays and big buckets toward the end of the half.

On responding to Indiana's runs...

Hauser: When they go on a run you've just got to find a way to get a really good shot. It's that simple. We had times where they may have gone one a run and we took a quick shot or a decent look, and in those situations you've really go to find a way to get something at the rim, get fouled. We did a good job getting fouled today, but it's just kind of a main thing."