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Tom Izzo on the sidelines.
College Football

Tom Izzo passes Bob Knight for most wins in Big Ten history with win over Illinois

Paul Harvey

By Paul Harvey

Published:

Tom Izzo did not get to celebrate a historic win against Indiana. He did, however, get that moment on Saturday night with Michigan State mounting a ferocious rally against Illinois in Champaign for a 79-65 win.

In the process, Izzo officially surpassed longtime IU head coach Bob Knight for the most Big Ten wins in the conference’s history. Saturday’s win goes down as Big Ten win No. 354 for Izzo, setting a new mark for the league.

How the Spartans got there was remarkable in its own right. Michigan State faced an early double-digit lead that it had to crawl out of and eventually closed the gap all the way to 41-37 at halftime.

In the 2nd half, things were much more back and forth, all the way up until the 8:29 mark. That’s when Ben Humrichous gave Illinois a 65-64 lead with a 3-pointer, but that would be it for the Illini.

Astonishingly, Michigan State shut out Illinois the rest of the way, forcing the Illini to miss their final 19 shots from the field. Jase Richardson and Jaxon Kohler made some big shots down the stretch, and the Spartans secured the 79-65 win for Izzo’s record.

Kohler was especially the story of the night. The junior forward entered averaging 7.5 points per game and shooting 25% from 3-point range but exploded for a game-high 23 points and added 10 rebounds for the double-double. He also went 4-for-5 from 3-point range, giving the Spartans a much-needed lift from deep.

Immediately after the game, Izzo called it simply a big win after what was a rather disappointing performance during the week against Indiana:

“It was a big win after a big letdown vs. Indiana, to be honest with you,” Izzo acknowledged. However, he spent his time reflecting on 354 victories by thanking those who helped him get there.

“First of all, the guy that I went by it was a hell of a coach and a hell of a guy and a friend of all of ours,” said Izzo about passing Knight. “I guess second of all, I just want to be thankful for the 148 players I coached. Each one of them got a win, and those wins helped me and the presidents, and the ADs, and the assistant coaches and over 6 million fans who watched us over those 354 wins. So that’s who I want to thank, Jimmy, and I’d turn it in for a banner. But I guess that’s not the way it is right now.”

As for the rest of the outlook this season, the win also keeps MSU hot in the mix for the Big Ten title. The Spartans are half a game behind B1G-leading Michigan, and those 2 rivals will face twice before the end of the regular season.

Paul Harvey

Paul is a lifelong fan and student of all things college football. He has been covering college football since 2017 and the B1G since 2018.