Michigan State coach Tom Izzo knew the Washington Huskies were vastly improved. He was even more impressed after taking a closer look.

“They’re an even better team than I originally thought,” said Izzo, a first-year coach. “They have some big wins. They won at Arizona. That’s a huge win. Nobody wins there. They’re a lot like us. They had a really good middle of the season. They slumped some at the end.”

The Huskies (16-11) finished the season with a 3-7 slide, including an overtime loss at UCLA. But the NIT invitation marks the first time in nine seasons the Huskies have advanced to a postseason tournament. The two teams meet today.

“We’re all excited, because this is a new experience for everyone in this program; it’s been so long since Washington has even been to a postseason,” Washington coach Bob Bender said. “This is the first step in our attempt to build a program comparable to what they’ve got at Michigan State.”

The Spartans (15-15) were in the NCAA tournament the previous two seasons and have been in a postseason tournament every year since the 1987-88 season.

MSU finished the regular season 3-6 in their last nine games. They were winless against state teams, losing twice to Michigan and once to Detroit and Central Michigan.

This is Izzo’s first year as head coach, and he’s happy to keep the streak alive.

“Just the fact we got (to the NIT) is great for the program, considering the problems we had down the stretch,” Izzo said. “We’re very excited about this opportunity because our guys think we have the potential to possibly make some noise.”

Poor backcourt play hurt the Spartans down the stretch, and leading scorer Quinton Brooks was criticized at times for his defensive play.

But Bender said the thing that concerns him most about the Spartans is their defensive play. Michigan State held opponents to 42.6 percent shooting.

“They’re a very physical defensive team,” Bender said.