"What starts bad, ends bad" Tom Izzo gets reals on Michigan State's "atrocious" performance in a 70-64 loss against USC

Tom Izzo and the No. 9-ranked Michigan State Spartans suffered their first conference loss this season and first defeat in over two months after a rough start they couldn’t overcome. The Spartans fell 70-64 to USC on Saturday and Izzo was frustrated with how the game started.

"Had an assistant that said what starts bad, ends bad, and this start was atrocious," Izzo said to reporters after the game.

USC (13-8, 5-5 Big Ten) took control early and Michigan State struggled to keep up. Izzo pointed out that his team’s game plan fell apart almost immediately.

"Wanted to go inside right off the bat and turned the ball over twice," Izzo said. "We took a couple bad shots. I think it was 9-3 and I think we only had one shot. You know, and then we got down 21-7. You know, give our guys credit. They bounced back, but USC played better than us."

Tom Izzo and the Spartans go down to USC

The USC Trojans led from start to finish, opening with a 6-0 run and extending their lead over Tom Izzo's team to 22-7 within the first seven minutes. USC shot efficiently, making 7 of 13 field goals and sinking all seven free throws, including one from a foul on a 3-point attempt.

Meanwhile, Michigan State struggled, shooting just 2 of 8 with three early turnovers. Izzo acknowledged that the slow start was difficult to overcome.

"That’s usually the difference in the game," Izzo said.

Izzo emphasized that his team needs to respond better in tough games, especially with another challenging matchup on the road.

"Give credit to USC. They played well," Izzo said. "I’ve been waiting to see how we would respond to some adversity, and today we didn’t respond very well. So we’ll have to fix that quickly since we’ve got another game coming up."

Despite the loss, the No. 9-ranked Spartans are still at the top of their conference with an 18-3 overall record (9-1 Big Ten). They will take on the UCLA Bruins (16-6, 7-4) on Tuesday and will look to get back to their winning ways.