DETROIT -- Count Michigan State coach Tom Izzo among North Carolina forward Tyler Hansbrough's biggest fans. But Izzo likes Hansbrough in a different way. "I love to hate him," Izzo said. "I hate him because he knocks you on your tail. He's tough as nails. He loves contact. There's two kinds of players I always talk about: seekers and avoiders. He is a seeker. I mean, if you're there, he's gonna go hit you. That's what I love about him. "But when I have to play against him, that's what I hate about him, because he is the ultimate competitor. He's going to find a way to beat you, whether it's with a rebound [or scoring]. [They] said he couldn't shoot the ball. Now he's shooting 17-footers. They said he couldn't go over his right. Now he's going over his right shoulder." In the team's first meeting on Dec. 3, when the Tar Heels beat the Spartans 96-63 at Ford Field, Hansbrough scored 25 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in 27 minutes. The Spartans played the game without senior Goran Suton, their best frontcourt player. "I'm going to tell him you can do everything well," Izzo said of Hansbrough. "He's like Scott Skiles. I don't want to tick him off. I think when you do, he raises his game a level. He's such a good free throw shooter, when he gets to the line, which he does an enormous amount, it makes it harder to defend." Izzo will look to slow down the four-time All-American on Monday night. "For a college coach, if we didn't have to play them, I'd love him a lot more," Izzo said. "To see him come back, go after something that was very important to him, it reminds me of what Mateen [Cleaves] did for me. You have to have great respect for people that will put team and university and coaches and all that ahead of your own individual things. I think he's proven his mettle by doing that."