Michigan State’s breakout 3-point-shooting performance was so surprising to Tom Izzo that the Hall of Fame coach wondered aloud if the Spartans made more while beating Kentucky than in their first three games of the season combined. It was close. No. 17 Michigan State shot 11 of 22 from beyond the arc to defeat the 12th-ranked Wildcats 83-66 in the Champions Classic at Madison Square Garden. Izzo’s team entered the night with the fourth-worst 3-point shooting percentage in the country.
NEW YORK (AP) — Tom Izzo had some nit-picking to do even after 17th-ranked Michigan State pulled away to beat No. 12 Kentucky 83-66 in the Champions Classic on Tuesday night. The Hall of Fame coach also pointed out a major positive.
“We made some shots,” Izzo said. “I don’t know. Did we make more 3s today than we’ve made all year? That’s not meant to be funny, but it is funny."
Funny — and close. The Spartans shot 11 of 22 from beyond the arc at Madison Square Garden after making just 13 of their first 60 3-point attempts in their first three games, good for 21.7% and fourth-worst out of 361 Division I programs.
“I’m not really sure,” Kur Teng, who had three of those 11, said when asked what changed. “But we can only go up from here. We’ve just got to make sure we keep on stacking these type of performances."
MSU alum Magic Johnson was impressed, posting he loved what he saw from his alma mater and calling 3-point shooting “the biggest reason we won.”
Izzo recalled telling his wife and athletic director J Batt that the previous three days were his team's best practices so far this fall. While rebounding and defending has been a hallmark of his three decades in East Lansing, this most recent stretch had a lot to do with trying to ease offensive concerns from missing shots.
“This entire week we’ve been really trying to step up our game in terms of shooting,” senior forward Jaxon Kohler said. “This week in shooting, we’ve been shooting very well. The key is to go into this game and have confidence in your shot."
It worked. After falling behind 5-0 in the opening minutes, Michigan State scored its first 12 points by going a perfect 4 of 4 on 3s. The burden lifted from there.
“The first one went in, and you just kind of build on that confidence,” said Kohler, who made two 3-pointers as part of his game-high 20 points. “I feel like that gave a leeway for everybody to make their shots. Us as a team, (we) shot the ball really well tonight.”
Izzo acknowledged the Spartans “weren't great” other than their shooting early and took advantage of some uncharacteristically poor shooting by Kentucky. The lead was 17 at halftime, and when the Wildcats began to close the gap, Teng hit back-to-back 3s to keep the margin from dipping into single digits.
“I’d seen them kind of flying at me for that one 3, so I kind of up-faked, took a dribble and knocked it down,” said Teng, who scored a career-high 15 points. “I just want to make sure I’m there for my teammates in them type of moments.”
Izzo, one of the old guard left on the college sidelines in an era predicated by the transfer portal and name, image and likeness deals, was gratified to see practice habits pay off. The 70-year-old joked that having a couple of sessions a day may be against the rules, but he was happy to see the shots fall for a change.
"We deserve to feel good for a night," Izzo said. “I was proud of my guys for how they responded in a big setting.”
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