PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Tom Izzo saw all of the things he demands from Michigan State basketball.
Commanding rebounding. Busting out in transition. Sharing the ball. Players diving after loose balls and defending with a fire and urgency as if every possession meant the game.
Pure swagger, from start to finish.
Only it wasn’t from his team.
Izzo talked about burning last year's tape from a loss at Rutgers, and he might put Saturday’s 84-63 defeat at Jersey Mike’s Arena on a loop for the 13th-ranked Spartans the rest of this season.
The Scarlet Knights (13-9, 7-5 Big Ten), in their second straight home win over MSU, played with the kind of energy, intensity and desperation Izzo has been demanding from the Spartans (17-5, 8-3).