"Do I blame him?... HELL NO": Tom Izzo looks past guard Tre Holloman pushing Michigan players during late-game scuffle

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo has backed Tre Holloman after the Spartans guard engaged in a skirmish with some Michigan players toward the end of their regular-season finale on Sunday. On Monday, Izzo addressed the incident on his radio show.

"You know, I didn't like the way it all happened." Izzo said. "Do I wish he wouldn’t have pushed them? Yeah. Do I blame him? After watching the film, and seeing what I saw.. HELL NO!”

The No. 7 Spartans had already clinched the regular-season title before entering their game against No. 22 Michigan. However, toward the end of the contest, some MSU players attempted to conduct their senior day tradition of having the seniors kiss the midcourt logo at Breslin Center.

When two Michigan players were standing on the center court logo, Jaden Akins and Holloman requested them to move, but they didn't oblige. That's when Holloman took matters into his own hands and pushed the Michigan players, causing a scuffle between the two sets of players.

MSU (26-5, 17-3) eventually won the game 79-62 and extended its winning streak to seven games to close out the regular season. Holloman led the scoring for the Spartans with 20 points, while adding three rebounds and an assist. Jase Richardson contributed with 18 points, five rebounds and three assists.

For Michigan, Vladislav Goldin scored a game-high 29 points. However, he did not get much support from his teammates apart from Daniel Wolf, who added 18 points, 13 rebounds and four assists. The Wolverines (22-9, 14-6) will head into the postseason on the back of three successive defeats.

Tom Izzo's Michigan State gets automatic qualification into Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals

Michigan State HC Tom Izzo - Source: Imagn

Tom Izzo's Michigan State will head into the Big Ten Tournament as the top seed. The Spartans also get an automatic qualification into the quarterfinals, along with No. 2 seed Maryland, No. 3 seed Michigan and No. 4 seed UCLA.

The top-four seeds get a bye in the first and second rounds. Therefore, Michigan State will play its first game of the Big Ten Tournament on Friday.