EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Michigan State center Szymon Zapala has proven all season long why Tom Izzo went out and recruited him in the transfer portal last offseason.
The senior has been everything the Spartans needed him to be, and that was further evident in his showing in Michigan State's 75-66 win over Purdue on Tuesday.
Zapala turned in 9 points and four rebounds, and while those stats don't jump off the page, they were crucial to a collective scoring effort from the Spartans, who needed all the help they could get in this one.
Zapala addressed the media after the game. You can watch some of his availability below:
Below is a transcript from Michigan State coach Tom Izzo's opening statement of his postgame press conference:
Izzo: "Well, these teams take a lot out of you. It was a hell of a game. It was like [Gene] Keady and [Jud] Heathcote. I mean, it was -- both teams only got 48 shots up. They shot 51 [percent], we shot 58 [percent], which is odd. There weren't a lot of rebounds to be had when you shoot that well. Uncharacteristically, we shot poor from the free-throw line, but 20 assists on 28 baskets, eight turnovers, those are ingredients that help you win games. And I thought so many of our guys -- I mean, our bench was 15-of-21 and did an unbelievable job. Frankie Fidler came back and did some things. Tre Holloman was dynamite. Coop [Carson Cooper] and Coen, Coen Carr did a yeoman's job, and our starters -- Jeremy Fears, he had to -- we did a hell of a job on [Braden] Smith because he's a hell of a player. And we didn't do a hell of a job on Kaufman [Trey Kaufman-Renn], but he's even a better player, I think. And we tried to double a little bit; he made some good shots, some good plays. But in general, we outrebounded them by a couple, the turnovers are a big thing, we had 10 steals, and they had four. And I'm going to stay on this: this team has owned us, they really have. Last few years, they've owned us. And it's because they're well-coached. They got a good team. The guys were classy after the game, and I felt like these two programs kind of mirror each other in a lot of ways. And I feel fortunate and good to win a game like that."
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