For the first time in eight years, Michigan Basketball beat Michigan State on the road. After the Spartans battled back to eliminate a 16-point deficit, the Wolverines turned it on late and still won by double digits, 83-71.
It was admirable for Michigan State to battle back and take the lead a few times in the second half, but ultimately, the Spartans lost to a Michigan team that is completely capable of winning the Big Ten Conference and the National Championship.
Following his team’s loss — which
happened on his 71st birthday — Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo seemed upset with how things played out.
“Disappointed would be an understatement,” Izzo said. “I did not like the way we played. Give Michigan credit, they played well, I guess.”
Izzo, the Hall of Fame coach who has led Michigan State to an record-high 27 straight NCAA Tournaments, has the fourth-most wins of any coach in their first 30 seasons as a coach. He was proud of his team for getting back into the game, but felt like the dominance of Michigan in the first half put his team in a bind.
It was a physical game, with officials letting a lot of stuff go, as they should in a rivalry affair. Michigan State was able to come back in the second half, but it did not come away victorious.
“The three guys working tonight, they had a very difficult job, and they earned their Big Ten salary over the last few hours,” Michigan head coach Dusty May said of the officials.
“I was disappointed in officiating, but more disappointed in my team,” Izzo said. “I think we played well enough, I think there were som bizarre calls, and I thought (Michigan) made the plays.
“To come back on a team that good like we did in five minutes is a hell of a response. You can’t dig holes that big and expect to win.”
Izzo was understandably frustrated after the game, criticizing the officials but ultimately feeling like his team’s poor execution offensively were responsible for the loss. To their credit, the Spartans had more points in the paint (32-26), matched Michigan on the boards (36-36) and had more fast-break points (18-15) and points off turnovers (19-10). MSU was in a spot to beat the Wolverines, but Michigan’s size and versatility ultimately wore them down.
“Michigan’s good, they got a good team, they got a lot of size,” Izzo said. “They can play different ways, we just didn’t do some things we needed to do.”
Michigan State was one of the few teams that was relatively able to handle Michigan’s size. Izzo acknowledged that Michigan — which is back to No. 1 in KenPom after the win, by the way — is the biggest team in the country, making them a difficult opponent to prepare for.
“They have enormous size,” Izzo said when asked about preparing for a team as large as Michigan. “They have the biggest size. Illinois has different size, but not as athletic a size. They got as good a size as anyone in the country. So yeah, it’s difficult.”
A lot of media attention this weekend and beyond will go towards Michigan winning in Breslin for the first time since 2018. But May, speaking after his first victory against Michigan State in three tries, had an apt quote when asked about the losing streak to the Spartans, referring to this group not being as worried about that streak as fans are. May, an Indiana grad, has referenced the national championship-winning football team more than a few times this season, as he did when asked about said streak.
“We stole it from the Indiana at Penn State football game. I thought their coach Cignetti made a great point, he said, ‘This team has never played here,’ so we just went into it,” May said. “Obviously last year we were 0-2 against these guys, but this team that we have in our locker room, they were 0-0. We’re not talking about what the past teams have done. Obviously, this is important for our fans, but for us, this was more about winning a Big Ten game on the road and staying in the hunt because we got a very challenging schedule coming up.”
