Earlier this month, three people were killed in a shooting on the campus of Michigan State University.
The deadly attack forced the school to cancel classes for two days as well as a men's basketball game against the University of Minnesota.
The Spartans returned to play on Saturday against arch-nemesis Michigan in Ann Arbor. But the two squads put aside their rivalry to come together in the wake of the tragedy.
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Michigan players wore warmup shirts that read "MICHIGAN BASKETBALL STANDS WITH MSU," and green lights lit up the Wolverines' arena.
"It’s a hateful rivalry. It’s what rivalries are supposed to be. But I give the University of Michigan a lot of credit," Izzo said on "Know Mercy" with Stephen A. Smith. "[Michigan head coach] Juwan Howard called me right when it happened - they banned together, they honored us there, their big night, their big game, they wore shirts.
MICHIGAN STATE ALUMNI, LED BY MAGIC JOHNSON, MOURN 'TRAGIC' DEADLY SHOOTING AT SCHOOL
"And I told Juwan after, I said, ‘Man, we should get our athletic directors and presidents together and send them to Washington. Maybe we could get the Democrats and Republicans on the same side ‘cause if Michigan and Michigan State can be on the same side on something like this, why can’t the rest of our country?’"
Izzo added that "things are more political than they are what's right and wrong," and as he is soon to become a grandfather, he fears for the net generation.
"I fear for my first grandchild. I fear for a lot of people. When you talk about being in a preschool and elementary school, and you have to haver gun seminars and escape seminars, what are we doing? It's not right."
During their game against Ohio State on Monday, members of the women's basketball team wore shirts with the Spartans logo with a great heart surrounding it.
The shooter has been identified as 43-year-old Anthony McRae, who was found dead off campus due to an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
