What Louisville coach Pat Kelsey said about Michigan State after loss

Michigan State basketball faced a familiar foe Saturday as it took on Louisville in the Round of 32 of the NCAA Tournament. However, this is not the Louisville of yesteryear, led by Tom Izzo’s longtime friend and adversary Rick Pitino, Pat Kelsey has been coaching the Cardinals since 2024, and his Louisville team put up a good fight against the Spartans, even if they ultimately came up short.

After the game, Kelsey spoke to the media, where he was extremely complimentary of Michigan State and Tom Izzo. You can see what he had to say below:

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• “I want to congratulate Michigan State. A very good team as always, each of Coach Izzo’s teams are tough, physical and disciplined. They played a very good game tonight.”

• “We were neck and neck with the best offensive rebounding team in the country. We were there. I thought we fought. I thought we gave up.”

• “At the end of the day, you have to give, first of all, their point guard, his flowers. I mean, he had 16 assists, which is crazy, he has 300 on the season, which is ridiculous. It really makes the people around him better.”

• “And 55 had a huge game for them tonight and gave us a lot of problems.”

• More on the fears: “Yeah, he’s good. What is he? Second team All-American, first team All-American, something like that. He played like a first team All-American. You have to game plan for him, you have to give him different looks. We’re not a ball screen team… He’s not a great shooter, he’s a great player, and he’s seen all the different coverages. I thought running into his pick-and-rolls gave him some grief early in the game. You know he’s 3 of 13 from the field, which isn’t very efficient, but he has 16 assists and five turnovers, it’s ridiculous… He’s the straw that stirs the drinking man… He’s lightning in transition…”

• “They made 11 threes, that’s a lot for them, they’re not a great shooting team… 55, man, he played a hell of a game… When he made two threes, it was really big, I have to give him credit.”

• “A great number 15, a very good player, I think it could have been his second line of the year.”

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This article originally appeared on Spartans Wire: What Louisville coach Pat Kelsey said about Michigan State after the loss.