Izzo hopes Michigan State rallies around Harris injury for 1 last push
Tom Izzo is hoping Michigan State can use the season-ending injury to Eron Harris as motivation to mount one final push toward the NCAA tournament.
Izzo's Spartans are considered a bubble team as the regular season winds down, but a substandard year for the Big Ten means they could be closer to the edge of the bubble.
"I definitely think that our team is going to rally behind this," Izzo said Monday. "Hopefully our fans will rally behind this, because this has been the most unique year of my career. And yet, it is going to be exciting to see how we can finish and reach some of the things we still plan on reaching."
Michigan State has stumbled to a 16-11 record, despite entering the season billed as one of the top teams in the nation. As a result, the Spartans are in danger of being absent from March Madness for the first time since 1996-97, Izzo's second year on the job.
Harris was the third key Spartan to suffer a season-ending injury, joining fellow cogs Ben Carter and Gavin Schilling on the shelf indefinitely.
Michigan State hosts Nebraska on Thursday in the first of four games left on the schedule, which includes a pair of road contests at the end.