Izzo Blames Slow Start Vs. Oklahoma On Team Watching New Kevin Hart Movie Instead Of Game Film

SYRACUSE, New York (CBS Detroit) -- It may not have been the start that the Spartans wanted, but the sluggish first few minutes of their Sweet 16 game against Oklahoma could be blamed on a couple of funny men.

Tom Izzo told MLive.com that he took his team to see the new Will Ferrell and Kevin Hart comedy flick Get Hard to get rid of some of their nervous jitters. Izzo said that he may have caused some of the problems in the first half of Friday night's game because, instead of watching film on the Sooners, the team went to the movies.

"Instead of grinding it in some film, we went to a damn movie. We did it just to try to break up the day," Izzo told MLive.com's Kyle Austin.

Izzo said that he sat with Hart at a Connecticut game last year and met Ferrell a few years back. He hoped that the movie would bring his squad good karma.