Tired legs? Tom Izzo discusses fatigue factor in Michigan State’s loss to Maryland

Tom Izzo did not make excuses after Michigan State’s loss to Maryland, but he knows his team is battling fatigue after a stretch of intense action late in the season.

In Sunday’s game, the Spartans started on the wrong side of an 11-0 run by the Terrapins. That left Michigan State playing catch up from the jump, a factor made even worse by a poor shooting game from stars Aaron Henry and Joshua Langford.

Michigan State was able to cut into Maryland’s lead in the second half, whittling it all the way down to seven points with eight minutes left in the game. Unfortunately, the Terrapins answered back every time and shot 23-for-24 from the three-throw line in the big win.

After the game, Izzo addressed what has been a crazy stretch for the Spartans with four games in the past eight days. That stretch started with a win over Indiana last Saturday before getting midweek games against top-10 teams in Illinois and Ohio State.

By contrast, Izzo drew attention to the fact that Maryland had seven days to prepare after not playing since a win last Sunday over Rutgers.

Here are Izzo’s comments as Michigan State pivots to another game on short rest, Tuesday night against Indiana:

Izzo's opening: "Write it however you want it, but that team gets seven days off…"

— Kyle Austin (@kylebaustin) February 28, 2021

Adds he felt it was the worst 6 minutes of a game this year for MSU. https://t.co/u3LCB1rrXn

— Chris Solari (@chrissolari) February 28, 2021

Izzo says nothing has changed with MSU’s situation. “We have to go home and try to beat Indiana.”

— Chris Solari (@chrissolari) February 28, 2021

Izzo said Hall and Hauser “played pretty well considering.” Adds Watts didn’t play very well on top of foul trouble.

— Chris Solari (@chrissolari) February 28, 2021

Izzo on not using fatigue as an excuse: "The reality is we were in two tough games and it took something out of these guys."

— Matt Charboneau (@mattcharboneau) February 28, 2021

Izzo: "We have to get them freshened up somehow because we still have a lot to play for."

— Matt Charboneau (@mattcharboneau) February 28, 2021

Izzo: “We were in two of the toughest games ever” with Illinois and OSU before facing Maryland, which had a week off. “It’s the reality of what we’re going through.” Admits he has been a proponent of playing all 20 Big Ten games.

— Chris Solari (@chrissolari) February 28, 2021

Izzo: "We're going to be ready to play Tuesday, I promise you. There will be no 11-0 start."

— Matt Charboneau (@mattcharboneau) February 28, 2021

Izzo says he is “upset with the NET thing” and big wins/losses weighing on the selection process.

— Chris Solari (@chrissolari) February 28, 2021

Izzo on MSU’s 8 of 28 from 3-point range: “That’s too many 3s for us to take, especially the way we’re shooting them.”

— Chris Solari (@chrissolari) February 28, 2021

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.