Juwan Howard keeps Michigan – MSU rivalry in perspective

The Michigan – Michigan State rivalry has become uglier in recent years, fueled (at times) by hatred spewed even by coaches, not just fans. When events like last week’s mass shooting at MSU, where 3 students lost their lives and 5 others were left in critical condition, occur, it should provide an opportunity for a reset.

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Some, like Michigan basketball coach Juwan Howard, understand well where wins and losses stand in the grand scheme. Howard and his team held a moment of silence for victims of a mass shooting at Virginia before this year’s home game with the Cavaliers. 

Saturday night, much more has been planned in remembrance of the MSU victims in a show of solidarity.

“Right now, it’s not about the sport. It’s about life,” Howard said. “Unfortunately, there were those that were lost during such a tragedy. It hit home — very close to home — for us. This is not easy. This is a tough one that we’re all dealing with. I say ‘we all’ because our heart goes out to the Michigan State family and also, more importantly, our condolences go to the family of the lost ones. 

“This is not one of those where you think about the sport — you think about the people.”

After all and lost too often in the banter … these are games. Anyone who can’t understand that now (on either side) probably needs a reset of their own.

Howard isn’t one of them. He and his family knew one of the Virginia victims personally.  

… “Having my boys play with him in high school and knowing the mom and dad, that one hit really close to home,” Howard said. “We’re just going to be there to support [Michigan State] like we have been from Day 1. And at the same time, understanding that sports do help in a lot of ways to give that therapy to take your mind away from what just happened. 

“After talking to Michigan State and their A.D. and after talking to Warde, they decided they want to play the game this weekend and that will help them get through it. And if they would have said, ‘We wanted to cancel,’ I would have totally understood, just out of respect to everyone. It’s not easy until you start dealing with it yourself.”

As games go, it’s a must win for both programs, though Michigan has a much tougher climb to the NCAA Tournament. The Spartans are on the right side of the bubble, while U-M is way outside not even looking in at this point.

Howard expects a hard-fought game.

“I expect two competitive teams still go out there and compete, understanding that this is the game that they all love doing, and that’s playing basketball,” he said. “Me and Coach Izzo, we put not only our passion, but we also put our heart into our players and helping them go through whatever they go through — but more important, preparing them to play the game that they truly love. 

“We know that once that ball goes up, it’s going to be all about the game of basketball and both teams trying to win.

Michigan State won the first meeting, an ugly 59-53 decision in which both teams struggled score. U-M stayed in it with its defense.

“The second half we came out and had a better half. A big reason for our first half struggles was foul trouble,” Howard recalled. “We were at full-strength, but unfortunately played catch-up throughout the game. I know there are a lot of things that we can do better.”

And they’ll need to if they want to start winning some of the tight ones. This year’s team just hasn’t been able to make winning plays when it matters most, even though the effort has often been there.

“There are players on our team that want to make the right play and want to make the right winning play,” Howard said. “We just haven’t been able to capitalize on it down the stretch. 

“We will continue to work hard, trust one another. Those close games haven’t been in our favor, but there are plenty of games to be played.”