Michigan pounds MSU 87-70, keeps NCAA Tournament hopes alive
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan and Michigan State set a fast pace early, scoring 23 points between them in the first three and a half minutes. Only the Wolverines would keep it up in an 87-70 rout of the Spartans.
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The Wolverines got into early foul trouble, point guard DeVante’ Jones picking up two in the first three minutes. That forced U-M to go to freshman Frankie Collins.
Caleb Houstan, though, was on his game early. He hit his first triple to put Michigan up 9-6, and three free throws for six early points. The Wolverines worked inside for most of their points early, making seven of their first eight shots in opening at 18-11 lead six minutes in.
A Terrance Williams triple made it 21-11 at 13:30. Two buckets inside from Hunter Dickinson made it 23-11 and forced an MSU timeout before a Tyson Walker jumper ended the 14-0 run.
MSU cut it to seven before Brandon Johns hit a key triple at 10:10 to push the lead back to 28-18.
Houstan picked up his second foul on a cheap one at 10:45. The Wolverines had Kobe Bufkin, Terrance Williams, Eli Brooks, Johns and Moussa Diabate on the floor and hit key shots to keep the Spartans at bay.
It was 37-24 after a Dickson dunk from Collins, and the crowd was alive.
The Wolverines pushed the lead to 41-24, but missed chances to open it up further. Turnovers and missed free throws opened the door.
Michigan, though, survived it. Williams hit another triple from the corner at 1:17, and the Wolverines had their biggest lead at 44-26. They took a 44-28 edge into halftime.
Dickinson led Michigan with 12, while Williams added nine in the half. U-M shot 60.7 percent from the floor, 62.5 percent from long range in the stanza and played smothering defense. MSU shot only 39 percent in the first half and made one of six triples.
Michigan finishes the Spartans in the second half
Dickinson opened the second half scoring with a backdown reverse lay-in to get the Wolverines off to a good start. The Spartans continued to leave him alone in the paint, and he scored again on the following possession.
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Houstan’s long triple form the top pushed the lead to 55-33 at the 17:30 mark, and U-M was off and running.
The Spartans didn’t go away. Gabe Brown hit his second triple of the half to cut it to 17 after Michigan missed twice at the rim.
But Michigan remained relentless. Dickinson continued to work through Dickinson in the paint, and he responded. He buried his way to four straight in one stretch and had 20 when Michigan led by 20 with 11:30 remaining.
Michigan State continued to fight. They cut it to 12 on a Max Christie jumper with eight minutes remaining, and again with about five minutes to go.
But it was too much Dickinson, too often down the stretch. He scored on three dunks in two minutes and dominated on the way to 33 points on 13-of-19 shooting.
Houstan added 16 in his latest outstanding game, hitting both of his triples, and the Wolverines improved to 10-8 in conference play with two games remaining.
