EAST LANSING — Tom Izzo issued a public warning, one he hadn’t even given his Michigan State basketball players in the locker room moments earlier.
But it was one they would understand from assessing their own performance.
Advertisement
“A lot of work to do,” Izzo said after his team’s 80-69 opening win over Colgate on Monday, Nov. 3. “Or we’re gonna get our ass embarrassed on Saturday.”
It’s a quick uptick in competition, with John Calipari and No. 15 Arkansas visiting Breslin Center to face the 21st-ranked Spartans on Saturday (7 p.m., Fox), a marquee matchup that will give Izzo and his understudies a chance to see how far along they are.
Michigan State’s coach Tom Izzo calls out to players during the first half against Colgate on Monday, Nov. 3, 2025, at the Breslin Center in East Lansing.
GRAHAM COUCH: Michigan State basketball landing Jasiah Jervis shows Tom Izzo still has his fastball
After practice Thursday, Izzo gathered his new additions – transfers and freshmen – for a quick conversation. (He planned to meet with them again Friday.) He felt his team put a strong next-day workout together after the Colgate win but that the energy dipped some. His message: Get ready, because playing the Razorbacks in front of a home crowd on prime-time national TV is something special – and challenging.
Advertisement
“I’m gonna go over all those things on what we do it for,” Izzo said. “Why we do it – but how they should benefit from it and not fear it. … I think they’re gonna love it. I think the place is gonna be hopping. I think people are hungry for seeing a game like this.
“We just gotta answer the bell the same way.”
Guard Trey Fort, one of the players Izzo pulled aside, has played at virtually every level: junior college, mid-major (including a season at UT Martin) and high majors (including a season at Mississippi State). The sixth-year senior said he senses a bit of a shift in Izzo’s intensity this week, but he also added that his new coach takes every game seriously.
“It’s a very high-level game,” Fort said Thursday. “But any game with us, I feel, is high-level. We make it high-level. I feel like there is a step up in our focus, which it should be, because this is just the beginning.
Advertisement
“I came to Michigan State to play games like this, and early on in the season – so you know where you are and what you need to step up in. It’s test after test after test.”
Arkasas arrives with its own Hall of Fame coach in Calipari, who is in his second season in Fayetteville after 15 years at Kentucky. Izzo won the last meeting between the two coaches, an epic double-overtime matchup with the Wildcats in the 2022 Champions Classic, but Calipari holds a 3-2 edge head-to-head.
However, this will be Calipari’s first visit to Breslin. Izzo and the Spartans will return the trip to Arkansas next sason.
July 19, 2025; North Augusta, South Carolina, USA; Arkansas basketball coach John Calipari stands as he talks to Michigan State basketball coach Tom Izzo (right) during the Team Melo and NY Rens game at the Nike EYBL Peach Jam at Riverview Park Activity Center. The NY Rens won 68-57. Mandatory Credit: Katie Goodale – Augusta Chronicle/USA TODAY NETWORK
“I’ve never coached in that arena, and they tell me the arena’s crazy … so I’m kind of excited about that,” Calipari said after the Razorbacks also opened their season Monday with a home win (over Southern). “I don’t like coaching against friends, I think Tom’s the same way. Like, if we win, I’ll be excited and I’ll see him and I’ll feel like crap and he’ll be the same way, you know?”
Advertisement
Izzo said he expects the Razorbacks to be in attack mode and get out in transition, led by five-star freshman guards Darius Acuff Jr. and Meleek Thomas, who combined for 43 points on Monday in their collegiate debuts. A Detroit native who led Cass Tech to the 2023 state title before transferring to IMG Academy in Florida, the 6-foot-3 Acuff had 20 of his 22 points in the first half, while the 6-5 Thomas scored 21 with seven assists and three steals. Senior Trevon Brazile, a 6-10 forward, led Arkansas with a career-high 25 points with 11 rebounds as Calipari’s team had 48 points in the paint and 32 points on the fast-break.
WELCOME BACK: Darius Acuff set for state title homecoming when Arkansas basketball faces Michigan State
“(The Razorbacks) like to move a lot, and they have a lot of athletes,” said freshman wing Jordan Scott, another of MSU’s newcomers Izzo pulled aside. “They like to run, and they’re a very talented team, up and down one through five, especially off the bench, too. Just controlling the pace is going to be really important, and we knew we need to slow them down a little bit.”
Though it is the first regular-season test for the Spartans – with games ahead over the next month against No. 9 Kentucky (Nov. 18 in New York at the Champions Classic), No. 25 North Carolina (Nov. 27 at the Fort Myers Tip-Off in Florida) and No. 5 Duke (Dec. 6 at Breslin), among others – they received a taste of top-end competition with an exhibition road loss at No. 4 Connecticut less than two weeks ago. That ended with MSU falling, 76-69, as Izzo mixed and matched lineups to figure out what works and what doesn’t.
Advertisement
How much the Spartans have grown – and how much Izzo has learned in the 10 days since – will show Saturday.
“If it’s big to me, it’s gonna be big to my speech. And it’s gonna be big to them,” Izzo said. “So if that’s pressure? Hey, welcome to the real world – that’s why you came here. … I think that’ll be my message to them: ‘You’re damn right it’s a big game. There’s been a lot of players before you that paved the way to make it a big game, now you gotta continue because of them.’”
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.
Subscribe to the “Spartan Speak” podcast for new episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or anywhere you listen to podcasts.
Advertisement
Next up: Razorbacks
Matchup: No. 21 Michigan State (1-0) vs. No. 15 Arkansas (1-0).
Tipoff: 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 8; Breslin Center, East Lansing.
TV/radio: Fox; WJR-AM (760).
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State basketball, Tom Izzo ready for John Calipari, Arkansas
