Izzo: "You Pick and Choose Your Poison" With Purdue

Michigan State men's basketball will be watching Monday's NCAA national championship game from home for yet another year; however, the Big Ten will be represented by two-time Naismith National Player of the Year Zach Edey and the Purdue Boilermakers.

Purdue, which made the Final Four for the first time since 1980, has been a thorn in Spartans coach Tom Izzo's side in recent memory. Izzo, of course, knows the thrill of a deep tournament run all too well, having appeared in eight Final Fours as head coach at Michigan State.

Through that experience, Izzo has faced some of the greatest teams to ever come through men's college basketball.

During his appearance on "The Dan Patrick Show" on Friday, Izzo gave his two cents on how he would go about containing Purdue's upcoming opponent, UConn, and center Donovan Clingan.

"After watching our own Big Ten team, Illinois, go at the big fella -- and I recruited him a little bit out of high school -- I wouldn't attack him," Izzo said. "I would try to drive and kick out and get some shots. You got to make shots against them because he has become so much bigger this year than he was last year, it's amazing.

"I think he's become better within the year, and he's just more aggressive, he's got size, he's got those long arms. And I don't think -- I think you got to hope to hope to turn him over some; not easy. [I] think you got to hope to make shots.

"And it will be interesting since Purdue is in it, and they have a big guy of their own. If that ends up the finals, which I'm not saying this year it will because so many strange things have happened, but if it's Connecticut-Purdue in the finals, it could be a real interesting game with those two bigs."

Edey will be a formidable match-up for Clingan, but Izzo pointed out one weakness in Boilermakers star's game.

"What he [Edey] doesn't do sometimes is -- not as mobile as some, although, he's more mobile than you think," Izzo said. "So, you just play big. Now, he might still score his points, and that's what happened to us against him. He scored his points, you got to maybe contain those other guys. You pick and choose your poison."

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