Though pleased with result, Izzo would've liked more punch in Michigan State's win over Duke

Matt Charboneau
The Detroit News

After two days and some film review, Tom Izzo isn’t feeling as rosy about Michigan State’s win over Duke on Tuesday as he was at the time.

Don’t confuse it with the Spartans coach being unhappy with getting his first victory at Cameron Indoor Stadium, but upon further review, he wasn’t happy with his offense that managed only nine assists on 27 made baskets after recording 53 assists on 60 makes in the first two games of the season.

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo felt his team didn't pass enough in Tuesday's win over Duke.

“I wasn't quite as fired up as everybody else,” Izzo said on Thursday. “I thought we did a very average job offensively. In fact, it was poor. I did not like the way we dribbled the ball to death, and give Duke some credit for that. I think they did a hell of a job defensively. I didn't like the way I coached because I didn't have us prepared for the pressure like I should. But that was far from Picasso.”

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Izzo was right about that — it wasn’t pretty. The Spartans turned the ball over often in the first 10 minutes and opened the game 1-for-11 from the field. However, the Spartans played primarily zone teams in the first two games and had to make the quick adjustment to an athletic, man-to-man team in the Blue Devils.

Still, as No. 8 Michigan State gets set to host Detroit Mercy at 5 p.m. on Friday, Izzo wasn’t letting his team off the hook.

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“I don't know how much they pressured I just thought we did a poor job of moving the ball,” Izzo said. “But this is the best thing that can ever happen — to win a game, have the coach not coach good and the players not play as good. And don't take that away from Duke because I don't think they played as good as they can play offensively either, but it's a lot more fun to learn with a win than learn with a loss.

“So, I got to get better, they got to get better, and we're all in the same boat.”

Aaron Henry finished with 14 points and five assists in Michigan State's 75-69 victory over Duke  Tuesday at Cameron Indoor Arena.

Michigan State (3-0) will have a chance to get better against a Detroit Mercy team that has yet to play a game this season. The Titans had games against Richmond, Kentucky and Morehead State canceled to begin the season and will hit the court for the first time at the Breslin Center.

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The Titans feature junior guard Antoine Davis, one of the nation’s top scorers who averaged 24.9 points a game through his first two seasons. And Detroit Mercy is coached by Mike Davis, Antoine’s dad. Mike Davis, who coached MSU assistant Dane Fife as a player at Indiana, was the coach of a Texas Southern team that in 2014 upset Michigan State in East Lansing.

Coming off the win over Duke, Michigan State will need to be on guard for a letdown and doing so against a team it knows little about.

“You play a team like Detroit that’s got one of the more prolific guard scorers in the whole country,” Izzo said, “and they’ve got a bunch of transfers, a bunch of new people, and we haven't seen a game yet. Those things all create problems. So, what we're trying to do is worry a little bit more about ourselves and I know what kind of coach Mike Davis is. … He can coach, and we got to be ready to play, especially after a big win.”

mcharboneau@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @mattcharboneau