MSU’s Henry: ‘Just coaching’

Michigan State freshman Aaron Henry doesn’t know what all the fuss is about.

Tom Izzo’s heated exchange with him on the court during the Spartans’ firstround win over Bradley on Thursday has drawn wide attention on social media and from pundits opining about the coach’s fiery methods. But Henry said Friday that it was just Izzo being Izzo.

“No abuse was done. Nothing bad was done. It was just coaching,” he said. “That’s what he is, that’s his life, that’s his job. Coaching. You can’t be upset how he does it.”

TV cameras caught Izzo laying into Henry as he came off the court during a timeout, and players stepped in to separate the two in the team huddle. Izzo said after the game that he was upset with the level of effort Henry was playing with at the time.

“My parents loved my response. I didn’t show disrespect or fight back,” he said. “Not that I wanted to, which in this period in general, most people would have in this generation. Not me.”

Henry said he doesn’t doubt Izzo has faith in him. After all, he is a freshman starting for one of the top teams in the country and playing about 30 minutes a game the last month.

If there’s any bigger insult in sports than calling a player a choke, it might be calling a player a bad sport.

Pearl backs player: Auburn’s J’von McCormick clutched his throat as New Mexico State’s Terrell Brown was toeing the free-throw line with 1.1 seconds left, getting ready for three shots that would decide Thursday’s game.

Brown missed two and Auburn prevailed by a point. On Friday, coach Bruce Pearl came to McCormick’s defense: “That’s not at all his character,” he said, “and that’s not at all ours.”

Motivation for Terriers: If Wofford was looking for some bulletin-board material for its second-round game against No. 2 seed Kentucky, Nick Richards provided it.

The 6-foot-11 center said bluntly Friday that the Wildcats have better big men than their next opponent. He calls is “a really good advantage for us.”

Richards says Wofford’s “bigs are skilled around the basket, they know how to move around the floor, but we’re just better than them overall.”

Even though leading scorer and rebounder PJ Washington will not play because of a sprained left foot, Richards says he, 6-10 EJ Montgomery and 6-8 Reid Travis should have a big edge Saturday against the seventh-seeded Terriers.

As Richards put it, “They’re not even as athletic as all three of us.”