A new year and the same old grind ahead.
The end of the nonleague schedule brings 16 Big Ten games between now and the postseason for No. 10 Michigan State basketball. It begins on the road Sunday at Northwestern in Evanston, Illinois.
And coach Tom Izzo on Friday quickly recalled last year’s stunning 79-65 loss at Welsh-Ryan Arena that rendered a perfect nonconference start moot and set the tone for MSU’s struggles that followed the rest of the 2020-21 season.