BREAKING: MSU Hoops Moves Up Despite Long Break
Michigan State men's basketball has had a long nine-day break since its blowout victory over Nebraska on Dec. 7.
Even so, the Spartans moved up a spot in the latest Associated Press Top 25.
The AP Poll, which is updated every Monday, has Michigan State ranked No. 20 after being ranked 21 in last week's poll.
As for the USA Today Coaches Poll, which is also updated every Monday, the Spartans did not move, still sitting at No. 19, two spots ahead of their bitter rival, Michigan, which recently lost to Arkansas.
Michigan State is ranked four spots ahead of Michigan in the AP Poll.
The Spartans will be back in action on Tuesday when they take on Oakland at Little Caesars Arena.
Below is a transcript from Michigan State coach Tom Izzo's opening statement from his press conference on Friday:
Izzo: "Well, interesting week. You're playing well and then you get 10 days off. And you got to play my good friend [Greg] Kampe and a team that's been a little up and down. But they've kind of gone through what we went through -- they're missing some shots early, and guys that have shot 35 and 36%, so it's always scary. Plays that funky zone; I don't know where he got it from, but it's hard to scout. The good news is I don't know what he's doing, and sometimes, I don't know if he knows what he's doing with it. But it's been very effective, and that's why he made a run like he made last year. A very good coach. I'm pleased to say our guys made it through finals well. We practiced a couple days during finals just to get a sweat up, and then yesterday, pretty good, and today was a very good practice for us. And now, we'll go Saturday and Sunday and then go down there on Monday and play Tuesday. So, go a lot of days without playing a game, it's always worrisome, but at the same time, I think it was a good little break after the Maui, after the things we did. We're trying to correct some things, get a little better defensively with our ball screens, improve a couple people right now and how they're shooting, like Tre [Holloman] and Book [Xavier Booker], and that's what you do when you have some time off."
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