Izzo, Spartans Will Go Up Against Familiar Face on Monday
Michigan State men's basketball coach Tom Izzo has been around long enough to see a number of players and coaches from his program go on to pursue their respective careers. And he sometimes gets the luxury of going up against them.
It happened last month when the Spartans welcomed former Michigan State guard and current Bowling Green assistant head coach Lourawls "Tum Tum" Nairn Jr. back to the Breslin Center.
On Monday, Izzo will be facing another familiar face yet again when Michigan State hosts Western Michigan. The Broncos are coached by former Spartans associate head coach Dwayne Stephens.
Stephens, who served on Izzo's staff for 19 years, is in his third season as Western Michigan's head coach.
The longtime coach played at Michigan State from 1989 to 1993. In his freshman season, the Spartans won the Big Ten regular season title and earned a 1-seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Stephens averaged 7.3 points per game, 4.4 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 122 games as a Spartan. He made 82 starts.
A win on Monday would give Michigan State its sixth straight. The contest will present a great opportunity for the Spartans to secure one last victory in 2024 and head into 2025 with high morale.
Michigan State is currently 10-2 and is tied for first place in the Big Ten.
Things are looking good for the Spartans, but for Izzo, there is still much to figure out with his team.
"If you remember the first big press conference in here, I said you probably are not gonna know where you're at until after Christmas," Izzo said after the Spartans' win over Florida Atlantic last weekend. "I still feel that way because I don't know what comparative scores does anymore. I'm still too confused on what's going on out there as far as, who's good and who's not good, and comparative scores have been very difficult and the scores have been so up and down. I keep saying to my team, I keep saying to you guys, I keep saying to my staff, we just gotta stay consistent, and we've stayed pretty consistent and bench scoring again, 43 points off the bench. It's not really a bench, it's just another bunch of starters. But I'm liking where the team is heading. I think we really got to clean up some things."
Monday's game is set for 3 p.m.
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