DETROIT — No. 11 seed Syracuse (22-13, 8-10 Atlantic Coast) will face off against No. 3 seed Michigan State (30-4, 16-2 Big Ten) on Sunday night. The Orange beat sixth-seeded TCU on Friday night, while the Spartans dispatched 14th-seeded Bucknell.

Both head coaches held press conferences ahead of the game. Here are three things MSU head coach Tom Izzo said.

Fond memories

Tom Izzo is in his 23rd season coaching the Spartans, tied as the seventh-longest tenured coach in college basketball. Over the years, Izzo and Boeheim have had five previous matchups.

On Saturday, Izzo was asked if he had a favorite game that he played against Boeheim. He pointed to the one played during the 2003-2004 season in Syracuse.

Going into the season, Izzo said that he “scheduled the world” during the nonconference portion of the schedule because he thought he had a really strong team (the Spartans played Kansas, Duke, Oklahoma, Kentucky and UCLA). A Jan. 3 game in the Carrier Dome was Michigan State’s last game of that brutal nonconference stretch.

“He said to me on the recruiting trail, ‘are you crazy?’” Izzo said. “… He called me a better choice of words than knucklehead; you can figure out what words he used. And sure enough they beat our brains in.”

Navigating the forest

There are two things that are no secret if you’ve seen Syracuse play this year. The Orange, as it’s always done, will set up in a 2-3 zone on defense. And this year’s Syracuse is big — the biggest team in the country per Kenpom.com.

Izzo mentioned both those things frequently when discussing the upcoming matchup. He was also asked how Duke’s zone, which Izzo saw in November, compares to SU’s.

“Syracuse’s zone is different than anybody’s in the world,” Izzo said. “… It’s a system. It’s a culture there, to be honest with you … He recruits to it. He believes in it. He sells it. And he does a hell of a job coaching it.”

Earlier in the season, Izzo had stated that he wanted his MSU team to be more physical inside. On Saturday, he said that the team had largely accomplished that, but that it would be put to the test against the Orange.

“There’s some trees we’re going to play against tomorrow,” Izzo said. “It’s the biggest team — I sat behind the bench for a while, and I sure as hell wouldn’t want to coach that team. I’d be looking up all day long. I’d probably have a broken neck by the time the game was over. I’ve never seen such size.”

Feeling your pain

A historic moment happened on Friday night when No. 16 seed UMBC beat No. 1 seed Virginia, the first time that’s happened in the NCAA Tournament. Izzo was asked for his thoughts on the event.

“I told our media during the week that, I said, it’s going to happen,” Izzo said of a potential No. 1 seed being upset in its first game. “And part of me almost said, I hope it happens soon because someday, if I’m a one seed again, I think that’s going to be unbelievable pressure.

“I feel for (UVA head coach) Tony (Bennett),” Izzo added, “because I think his team has been knocking at that door.”

Two years ago, Izzo endured a similarly difficult defeat, when the second-seeded Spartans lost to No. 15 seed Middle Tennessee State.

“Like our team a couple of years ago with Denzel (Valentine) and them … we just got beat by a team that played better than us that night.” Izzo said. “Middle Tennessee beat us fair and square. There was no luck. I tried to find an official to blame. Couldn’t do that. And we just got beat. So I feel for Tony.”

Published on March 17, 2018 at 5:57 pm

Contact Tomer: tdlanger@syr.edu | @tomer_langer