Tom Izzo and the Michigan State Spartans picked up another conference win on Saturday.

The Spartans took down Rutgers at Madison Square Garden, and after the game, Izzo shouted out Coen Carr in particular. Carr had a fantastic game off the bench with 14 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist, and 2 blocks.

Carr wasn’t the only Spartan to contribute off the bench, however. Jase Richardson is another reserve who exploded for 20 points at MSG, leading the Spartans in scoring.

Izzo admitted after the game that his team “would’ve been in trouble” if not for Carr and Richardson. Speaking on Carr, Izzo said he’s impressed by the sophomore’s improvement.

“He’s getting to be a better defender, shot blocker, he’s active,” said Izzo. “You know, once we got out of the first half, we started moving the ball, he (Carr) even got involved in that on the break.”

It was a hard-fought win for the Spartans. The team was down by as many as 7 points at one time, but continued to battle back and ultimately walked away with their 8th conference win.

The Spartans dominated in the paint, outrebounding the Scarlet Knights 44-34 and outscoring the team 42-26. It was a poor showing from beyond the arc, however, as Michigan State made just 5 out of 19 attempts.

Next up, the Spartans will take on 3 straight unranked opponents in Minnesota, USC, and UCLA, before taking on No. 15 Oregon next month.