CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - After Will Riley knocked down a triple directly in front of him, Tom Izzo rose from the Michigan State bench with a wide-eyed exhale.
The shot added to Illinois' double-digit lead midway through the first half and the Orange Krush student section was breathing fire just a few feet behind the Spartans at the State Farm Center.
A poor start on the road won't be remembered amid a dominant finish that secured a career milestone. No. 11 Michigan State rallied from 16 down for a 79-65 win at Illinois on Saturday night to put Izzo alone atop the record book with 354 Big Ten victories.
"It's the players, it's the fans, it's the (university) presidents, it's the ADs, it's the people that all made this possible for me to have a chance to accomplish something like that," Izzo, in his 30th season, said of breaking a tie with Bob Knight. "I didn't shoot, I didn't dribble. They did it for me and I'm so appreciative of that."
Michigan State (20-5, 11-3 Big Ten) capped the comeback with a 15-0 run to close the game while Illinois (17-9, 9-7) remarkably went scoreless the final 8:29. When Izzo jogged to the locker room after the win, his team was waiting to celebrate by dousing him with water. The 70-year-old raised his arms in triumph while literally soaking up the moment.
"A really special moment," said freshman guard Jase Richardson, whose dad played for Izzo more than two decades ago. "He's worked really hard for this over the past 30 years ... and we wanted to get him that record. To be able to do it in hostile territory against a really tough team, it's incredible."
It was quite the contrast from four days earlier when the Breslin Center was packed with fans and Izzo's close friends who expected to see the record beaten against Indiana. They all left deflated after a four-point loss upset loss against the Hoosiers.
"Whoever said about the highest of highs and the lowest of lows," Izzo said. "There's no question that our loss to Indiana was one of my lowest in my career because of the way we played ... and disappointed a lot of people at home. To get back off the ground and do what these guys did tonight, especially when they got down 16 and the place was hopping ... This was a hell of an environment and I can't think of a better way to bounce back than winning here."
Izzo has already won a national championship, 16 combined Big Ten regular season and tournament titles and reached the Final Four eight times. The Hall of Famer is now ahead of Knight, the former Indiana legend he picked up his first Big Ten victory against three decades ago.
"If I can be in the same breath with him on that, that's cool for me," Izzo said of Knight. "I had great respect for him as a coach and he helped me a lot in my younger days as a head coach."
The loss to Indiana on Tuesday was the third in four games for Michigan State, which had previously strung together 13 straight wins. That skid dropped the Spartans out of first place in the Big Ten heading into a difficult stretch to close the regular season.
After going unbeaten in both December and January, Michigan State looked like it was headed to its fourth loss already in February with Illinois eager to salvage a season split. Instead, the Spartans showed poise and their trademark depth that silenced the hostile crowd late.
"I'm just really happy that we were able to get the record in a time where we really needed it," said forward Jaxon Kohler, who posted a double-double with a career-high 23 points and 10 rebounds. "When we didn't accomplish what we sought out to do against Indiana, it really left a sour taste in all of our mouths and we had to do something to get our confidence back, get our team going again."
Izzo didn't think the record created additional pressure for the Spartans but it was impossible to ignore. Now that box is checked and history is made.
"I tell each team each year there's something they have to leave here with that's different than everybody else," Izzo said. "This team will get to at least leave and tell their grandkids they were on the team."
Izzo and the Spartans boarded busses late Saturday night with freezing rain falling in Champaign. They were headed back to East Lansing with a happy coach following one of the best wins of the season.
"I'm going to sure as hell enjoy that ride home," Izzo said. "They can send us to Boston if the weather's bad (in Michigan) and I'm not going to care."