MY ACCOUNT
The next date of Mike Krzyzewski’s Duke farewell tour sees him face a familiar foe in Michigan State coach Tom Izzo on Sunday.
A record-breaking sixth NCAA Tournament encounter between the pair was secured after both Duke and Michigan State won their first-round matchups on Friday – Krzyzewski’s second seed beating Cal State Fullerton 78-61 while Izzo’s number seven outfit scraped past Davidson 74-73.
It is fitting that the final March Madness of Krzyzewski’s 42-year Duke career should see him again take on Izzo, with their sixth coaching clash passing the previous benchmark of five.
Until now, that record was held jointly with two other coaching duos: Roy Williams and Bill Self, and Eddie Sutton and Denny Crum.
‘Coach K’ and the Blue Devils are 12-3 against Izzo’s Spartans and 3-2 in the NCAA Tournament, with Duke’s most recent March Madness victory in the series coming en route to the 2015 championship.
However, another win for Izzo – himself 27 years in at Michigan State – would conclude both Krzyzewski’s bid for a sixth national title and his career, stopping him just short of 100 NCAA Tournament wins; his 98 as of Friday are already a record.
Either way, Izzo is delighted just to get the chance to test himself against one of basketball’s greatest names one last time.
“I like the game, I just don’t like the record in that matchup over the years,” Izzo said. “I’ve got to be his favourite coach because he’s beaten us like a drum.
“I didn’t want to look ahead and dream of the matchup, because you get a chance, one more time, to play against maybe the all-time great, as they say about LeBron [James] or they say about Michael [Jordan].
“In the coaching world, the ‘GOAT’ is the team we’ll play, and it’s been earned. It’s not been given. It’s been earned.
“And you know, I’m going to try my hardest to see if we can get one more on the positive side of that thing, but every time we’ve played it’s been a game I looked forward to.”
