It’s no secret that Brad Underwood and Tom Izzo are long-time friends. Underwood has made it a point, nearly every time that Illinois plays Michigan State, to point out how much he respects and tries to emulate Tom Izzo and his program. So, it was no surprise that, after his team’s close overtime loss to Michigan State on Saturday, Underwood was effusive in his praise of MSU
Additionally, Underwood commented on a controversial no-call that occurred during the game, when he called for an official review after an Illinois player ran into Jeremy Fears Jr. in what appeared could have been a trip by Fears. The officials deemed that it was not a foul by Fears or intentional, and ultimately, Underwood agreed.
You can see what he had to say about both Michigan State and Jeremy Fears, along with his team, below:
- “High-level college basketball game. Two teams, about what I expected to be. Hats off to Tom Izzo. “Things we haven’t been doing, a few lane violations, just little things that add up over the course of the night. Proud of our guys, I thought we battled. Hats off to Michigan State, today was their day.”
- “Rebounding leads to winning. And I like to win, I am a really crappy loser. Rebounding is an emphasis, it is why Michigan State is one of the top teams the last 35 years, it is part of their culture too.”
- Underwood on the Fears’ no-call: “There was nothing on the trip. They looked at it. It will always be a judgmental thing. He stops, and that’s what he does.” Also said of Fears, “He was terrific, he plays with great speed.” And called him “crafty and smart.”
- “Michigan State did a good job on Keaton Wagler, give them all the credit. He got the looks and shots. Shooter cannot worry about bad nights.”
- “Michigan State has a couple people that have an unnatural pause in their shooting motion on free throws, we saw it on film. We talked about it, we have to watch the ball.”
- Underwood on his team: “That is a distraught locker room. There are a lot of guys that want to win and care. You gotta play your tail off and play hard. This is a quick turnaround, that is the Big Ten.”
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This article originally appeared on Spartans Wire: What Illinois’ HC Brad Underwood said about Michigan State after loss
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