"I didn’t coach well enough to win": Tom Izzo owns up to Michigan State’s 71-67 loss to Indiana despite hot season start

Michigan State men's basketball head coach Tom Izzo took full responsibility for the team's shocking 71-67 home defeat to Indiana on Tuesday. The Spartans have now lost three of their last four games in February and sit third place in the Big Ten standings after winning their first nine games in conference play.

However, he believes the team's losses have made it harder to win the league and he blamed himself for it.

“I tried to explain when we were 9-0 [in conference play] what was going on. I haven’t changed one bit. I told you four or five losses would win the league, I haven’t changed on that at all,” Izzo said after the game. “We put ourselves in a hole now because we didn’t do the job at home. You’ve gotta win your home games and try to split on the road. We did not play well enough to win." (4:07)

“And like I said, I say this on my big night – I guess it’s a big night – I didn’t coach well enough to win. But no, I didn’t detect nothing. The guys were great. Guys practiced well. Just didn’t make shots and we didn’t handle some things we needed to handle.”

Tuesday night was supposed to be a historical night for the Spartans head coach had his team won against Indiana. The long-time Michigan State coach would have become the first in all-time wins in Big Ten history. But he remains tied with former Indiana coach Bob Knight for first place with 353 career conference wins each.

Izzo still has an opportunity to clinch the first place as Michigan State travel to Illinois to face the Fighting Illini on Saturday night.

Tom Izzo feels bad for friends who traveled to watch Michigan State's disappointing loss vs Indiana

Tom was set for a history-making mid-week matchup between his team Michigan State and Indiana at East Lansing. A win against the Hossiers would have seen Izzo bypass Bob Knight's 353 wins in Big Ten history.

“I had a lot of people, including my two college roommates that came a long way, and Steve Smith, and a lot of people came in for it and I feel bad for them because we had an opportunity for a special night, and I don’t think the players played very well and I didn’t think the coaches coached very well,” he said.

However, the Spartans fell short, which led Izzo to believe he had let family and friends who traveled to watch his big night down.