Tom Izzo loved Michigan State's complete game on both sides of the ball against UCLA

For 40 minutes, the Michigan State men's basketball team played a consistent and complete game against the UCLA Bruins in a convincing 82-59 home win on Tuesday night.

The Spartans' captains led the way, the 3-pointers were falling, and the effort on both sides of the ball — from everyone who played — came together to produce a masterclass of a game.

“That was maybe as good as we played on both ends of the court, offense and defense,” MSU head coach Tom Izzo said following the victory. 

Izzo has lived by the motto "Defend, rebound and run’" during his 30-year tenure at Michigan State, which has served the success his teams have had throughout his tenure. In that order (defend then rebound then run out in transition), each factor affects the next. In other words, defense leads to offense.

This philosophy was in full effect on Tuesday night against the Bruins and proved to still be true to Michigan State's success. MSU out-rebounded UCLA by a tally of 37 to 27, and the Spartans had defensive stretches where UCLA did not score for six or more minutes.

“Well, when you defend properly, you don’t get a lot of penetration,” Izzo said. “You have a lot better chance to rebound the ball because your bigs aren’t out of position, and if you can get that, we get it out in Jeremy (Fears') hands, he can get that break going."

Coming off the loss in Madison this past Friday against an unranked Wisconsin team at the time, the Spartans needed a big bounce-back win at home and delivered. MSU WAS in complete control of the game from five minutes in and never looked back.