Michigan State Spartans Insider on the State of the Spartan Nation

On this episode of the Michigan State Spartans Insider Podcast, our Hondo S. Carpenter Sr. and Attorney Jonathan Schopp break down the current state of Michigan State Athletics.
Michigan State's head coach Tom Izzo, right, hugs athletic director Alan Haller during the senior night celebration after the game against Northwestern on Wednesday, March 6, 2024, at the Breslin Center in East Lansing.
Michigan State's head coach Tom Izzo, right, hugs athletic director Alan Haller during the senior night celebration after the game against Northwestern on Wednesday, March 6, 2024, at the Breslin Center in East Lansing. / Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK

January is nearly over, and Michigan State Athletics is thriving this winter.

The hockey team ranks No. 2 in the nation, men's basketball ranks No. 7, women's basketball ranks No. 16 and gymnastics ranks No. 5.

On this episode of the Michigan State Spartans Insider Podcast, our Hondo S. Carpenter Sr. and Attorney Jonathan Schopp recognize the department Athletic Director Alan Haller has been able to build and break down the current state of Spartans hockey and men's basketball.

You can watch the episode below.

Michigan State men's basketball coach Tom Izzo addressed the media after his team's 73-51 win over Minnesota on Tuesday. Below is a partial transcript from his opening statement:

Izzo: "The game was interesting. It felt like the first 5 minutes, we had five turnovers, and we really weren't playing very well, but our defense – and that's what they say, ’Your defense is stifling.’ And in all the years I've been here, I thought the first half of basketball was one of the best halves defensively I've seen my teams play in a variety of different ways. And so, then we started taking care of the ball and moving it a little better. I still wasn't pleased with our offense, even the ball movement. I mean, we just don't look real sharp. We looked sharper at the end when we got the ball in and got it out. So then, we had a big talk at halftime on what we were going to do because we've been notorious lately for giving up a ton of points in the second half, 42, 44. The goal was to keep it under 35, and I guess we were right on that goal. But again, we turned the ball over three times in the first 3 minutes of the second half but yet only nine for the game. I thought some of the highlights were my guards. Tre [Holloman] played very well, but Jase [Richardson] and Jeremy [Fears Jr.] having 14 assists and one turnover was impressive. Book [Xavier Booker] did some good things, made some free throws. Coen [Carr] – he’s just a human highlight film. And I thought early, Szymon [Zapala] did a good job. He had four offensive rebounds in the first 5, 6 minutes. But our defense was pretty good 90% of the time against a team that has been really playing well.”

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