Michigan State men's team knocked out of Big Ten Tournament in quarterfinals by UCLA
It was a quicker trip to Chicago than the Michigan State men's basketball team was hoping to make.
The Spartans lost 88-84 in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament on Friday to UCLA, a team they beat by 23 less than a month ago.
Friday's game played out very differently than the Feb. 11 game between the two teams. The Spartans didn't shoot it particularly well. The Bruins shot 56% from the floor, 48% from three and had an answer for every run from the Spartans.
Michigan State did not play at the level they needed to.
"When you lose like this, everyone has to take some blame. It's my job to get my team ready to play and they were not ready to play," Spartans head coach Tom Izzo said after Friday's game.
Michigan State point guard Jeremy Fears Jr. added, "This game, they just outrebounded, outphysicaled us and made the winning plays. Next one ends your season, so something has to change."
"We just gotta be so much better in a lot of different ways. We have to have more fight. We have to do better on ball screen coverages and defense. We just didn't bring it," Spartans forward Jaxon Kohler said.
"I've got some regrets today and I hate the feeling. It's going to stick with me, for sure, until we start prepping for this next team. Hopefully I'll bring that and the other guys can follow," Michigan State center Carson Cooper added.
The Spartans have lost two in a row, but the season is not over. They will find out their seed in the NCAA Tournament on Sunday.