A grueling November schedule, once described by Tom Izzo as "the most brutal 20 days in the history of Michigan State basketball," has taken a toll on the Spartans, who now have dropped three of their first six games following Thursday's 73-58 loss to No. 20 Baylor.

Now, Izzo said he's blaming himself for serving the young Spartans more than can chew.

"I actually apologized to my team,'' he told reporters, via ESPN.com. "And yet, I've always played a tough schedule. ... You know what? You can take it as an excuse, you can take it as the truth, I don't give a damn. I'm telling you what I did. This ain't on them. It's on me."

By the time Michigan State's date with No. 6 Duke rolls on Tuesday, the Spartans will have traveled 13,000 miles and four top-20 teams in a 20-day span.

Their season opened with losses to No. 10 Arizona in Hawaii and to No. 2 Kentucky in New York four days later. They needed a time clock blunder to survive an upset by unranked Florida Gulf Coast on Monday, and by Thanksgiving it was apparent fatigue is setting in.

No. 24 Michigan State, now in danger of falling out of the top 25, shot 43 percent from the field in the loss to Baylor. Only freshman Miles Bridges reached double figures.

"We were moving the ball and really playing well I thought through the first half, and we quit doing that," Izzo said of the game. "I just think we looked awfully tired. I can accept that that's my fault, not theirs.''

There's little time for rest, with Wichita State (5-1) waiting Friday to conclude the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament. The Spartans then draw Duke at Cameron Indoor as part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.