Tom Izzo Win Quotations

Maurice has struggled lately. And (yet) I don't think there's anybody I've ever coached who wants to win more than he does.

I said that there could be eight teams vie for the championship. I think scheduling (the Big Ten doesn't play a round robin, so some teams play others just once) is gonna play a part in everything. I still think our conference could fight to be the strongest in the country. When you look top to bottom at the conference race this year, four losses could win it, maybe more.

I still think this team is good enough to win some big games. This is a talented basketball team with good guys that has had a horrendous schedule and it's taken its toll.

It is a win-win-win. I guess on paper, if he goes, it looks like it's a lose for me. It's a lose if you look at the small picture, but a real win if you look at the big picture. The potential of maybe having three first-round picks is pretty impressive.

We found a way to win ? that's what you've got to do in one-and-done time.

We played Gonzaga, we played Arizona, we played all these overtime games, and I told (my team during a late-game huddle ) I thought we've earned the right to win this game. I felt, looking at them in the eye, that they were looking back at me saying, 'Damn right we do, and we're going to get it done.' And that was encouraging.

When the players want to win more than the coach, that's a great sign, and I see that.

We're going to hone in 95 percent of our time on George Mason. If you don't win the first one, you don't get to the second one. But if you get to the second one and you're not prepared and you don't get out of the weekend, I don't feel like that's where Michigan State is right now.

I see this being a good enough basketball team to win a lot of games yet.

We've got a good enough team to win the next six games and we've got a good enough team to lose the next six games and I think a lot of teams are in that boat in this league.

We had some spurts when we hit the 3s, ... This was an important win for us.

We didn't get beat by some chopped-liver team. I mean, don't kid yourself: They're going to win a lot of games -- a lot of games.

I'm not a record guy. I don't need to win 700 games, I don't need to have 20 straight 20-win seasons ... and I don't need to get in the NCAA tournament every year if we're not worthy of being in it. If we're not playing good enough or we can't win a game, it just doesn't turn me on.

Iowa's good enough to win the Big Ten title. They've helped themselves this week by beating Indiana (Saturday) and us.

I kind of respect and understand his theory, because it's a lot like mine. He looks at it like the only way he's getting to the NCAA tournament is to win his league, so if he can go out and play some of the best teams and sell that in recruiting and it makes the university some money.

If you look at our home and road stats, they're enormously different. Most teams are different, but not enormously different. You get in a little slump, and you don't get the confidence of the home crowd and the home baskets and the home bed. Yeah, I think it affects you a little bit. I really, really do. But I also think you got to be big enough to win some of these games on the road.

I'm not sure how many people would have picked us to win either road game. We played at the two toughest road places.

I'm excited about the Big Ten. It's great to have our league being talked about. I think every team in the league is making some strides, and I still think there are eight teams in the league that could win the Big Ten championship.

It's great to have our league being talked about. Every team in the league is making some strides. I still think eight teams can win the Big Ten championship and in the long run that's going to help our recruiting, our exposure and the respect for our league.

It was just too bad because I think we played well enough in a lot of ways to win the game, but we just couldn't get in sync half the night with guys out with foul trouble.

It was a big road win because any road win in this league is a big road win.

It was a game that slipped away. Give credit to them, they deserved to win it. It was just too bad, because I think we played well enough in a lot of ways to win the game.

As far as my confidence in the team, as crazy as it sounds, I still think we have a chance to win our last two games. If we do that, I think we go into the Big Ten Tournament on a high and have every bit a chance to win as anybody else.

You can't win four games because of luck.

I told them in the huddle that we played Gonzaga and Arizona we played all those overtime games and we've earned the right to win the game. They looked back at me and said, 'Damn right we did.

It's kind of apropos for the year. It was a rough start and it will be a rough ending. At the same time, if you can win a game and you've got Senior Day, I don't see it being a major factor.

This is a very, very good basketball team. And it was a big win because we had to win it the defensive way.

I don't think (we have) any chance (of playing) at The Palace. I think we would have had to win this thing to get a chance at The Palace.