Following the Spartans’ 83 to 76 over Detroit Mercy on Friday night, Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo opened the press conference by expressing the same feelings experienced by most MSU fans. Izzo said that he was, “disappointed, but [felt] good at the same time.” Coach Izzo went on to explain that is was “a very big trap game for us” and later Coach Izzo admitted (likely tongue-in-cheek) the he was “taking Detroit a bit lightly.”
Part of the difficulty of playing Detroit was the relative level of uncertainty about the players on the Titans’ roster.