To be fair to Michigan State coach Tom Izzo, there aren't as many Alan Andersons and Shannon Browns across college basketball as there once were. So when Izzo butchered the names of Kasparas Jakucionis,

The Spartans' win over Illinois bought breathing room against one of the Big Ten's most dangerous title contenders.

Underwood is referring to Kasparas Jakucionis, who fouled out in just nine minutes. ‘Truthfully I thought the game was the free throw line. You can’t go on the road and miss ten free throws.’ ‘…A team that I thought guarded exceptionally well… they took our three-ball away.’

The Illini slowed the Spartans' fastbreak, but they also had their own best player brought to a screeching halt early

MSU, which is ranked No. 12 in the USA Today Coaches Poll, is coming off a 90-85 victory over Penn State on Jan. 15 in East Lansing. Illinois (13-4, 5-2 Big Ten) is ranked No. 20 in the Coaches Poll and is coming off a 94-69 win over Indiana in its most recent game on Jan. 11.

Tom Izzo sees No. 12 Michigan State basketball getting tougher after beating No. 20 Illinois on Sunday, but also knows so will the Spartans' schedule.