College Basketball

Tom Izzo ties Bobby Knight's Big Ten wins record

Published Feb. 26, 2022 7:40 p.m. ET

Michigan State's men's basketball team entered Saturday's matchup against No. 4 Purdue in desperate need of a win.

The players knew it. The fans knew it. Tom Izzo knew it.

The Spartans delivered in a big way as Tyson Walker hit a game-winning 3-pointer in the final seconds, helping MSU knock off Purdue 68-55 in front of a sold-out Breslin Center crowd.

The victory held extra meaning for Izzo, who tied Bobby Knight's record for the most wins by a men's basketball coach at a Big Ten school with 662.

Izzo also tied Knight for the most wins over AP Top-5 opponents as a Big Ten coach with 23.

"We needed to win a game, and we needed to win a game the way we won the game," Izzo said following the victory.

The slumping Spartans had lost five of their last six heading into Saturday and had gone from a Top-10 team competing for a Big Ten title to unranked and stuck in the middle of the conference standings.

Izzo made several changes to his starting lineup on Saturday, inserting Julius Marble and Malik Hall. And it paid off as the Spartans notched another marquee win to help solidify their NCAA Tournament position as the calendar turns to March.

The Boilermakers had won nine of their last 10 games and were a projected No. 2 seed in FOX Sports bracket forecaster Mike DeCourcy's most recent NCAA Tournament projections.

"I still think they're the best team in the league, but we earned the win," Izzo said of Purdue. "I know what it takes to be what we need to be," he added. We did some of those things today … Can we continue?"

The Spartans close out the Big Ten regular season at Michigan on Tuesday, at No. 22 Ohio State on Thursday and vs. Maryland at home next Sunday.