Michigan State humbles Michigan, moves to first place in Big Ten

ANN ARBOR – The Michigan State Spartans came into Crisler Center and moved back into first place in the Big Ten Conference with a 75-62 win over the Michigan Wolverines on Friday night. The loss was the first at home this season and dropped U-M to 20-6 (12-3 Big Ten) on the season.

The loss came hours after Michigan announced a contract extension for head coach Dusty May, which was upended by a rivalry loss at home.

MSU guard Jace Richardson and Michigan center Vlad Goldin led all scorers with 21 points each. Spartan guard Jace Richardson added 18 points.

Here is the recap from Friday night’s game in Ann Arbor.

First half

Michigan won the opening tipoff to start the game. The Spartans got the scoring started first with Jace Richardson’s three-pointer to leadoff the game at the 19:17 mark, answered by a Vlad Goldin dunk at 18:31 to put the score at 3-2, Spartans. MSU went on a 4-0 run thanks to a Richardson layup and a paint shot from Jeremy Fears Jr., pushed the early MSU advantage to 7-2 (17:05). Michigan guard Nimari Burnett got the scoring going for the Wolverines on a layup attempt that was ruled a goaltend, narrowing the game to 7-4 in favor of MSU. Spartan big man Carson Cooper scored on a layup, answered 12 seconds later by a dunk from Burnett. MSU lead 9-6 at the 15:50 mark. Michigan State would go on another 4-point spurt to push its lead to 13-6 at the 14:09 mark.

Michigan had a counterpunch, and then some. The Wolverines swung the game with a 15-0 run between the 12:23 and 8:02 mark of the game with a pair of buckets from Danny Wolf and Roddy Gayle Jr., a Rubin Jones jumper, a Justin Pippen layup and a three-pointer from Burnett. The Wolverines would lead 23-16 with 8:02 to go. The run was snapped by a pair of Tre Holloman free throws, but Will Tschetter’s three put the Wolverines up to a first-half high lead of 8 points at 26-18 with 7:01 to go.

Michigan State got out to a 5-0 run that went to the 4:44 mark, narrowing the U-M lead to 26-23. Michigan pushed it back out to a 6-point advantage with a Burnett dunk and Goldin splitting a pair of free throws, pushing the advantage to 29-23. Spartan guard Jaden Akins gave them a basket back before another 4-0 scoring blast, going up 33-25 with 2:20 remaining. MSU forward Xavier Booker hit a three to trim the lead to 33-28 with 1:54 left on the clock. Michigan got two points at the other end on a Goldin layup, followed by a Holloman jumper at 1:28 (35-30, U-M).

Goldin hit a pair of free throws at the 1:18 mark before a 4-0 Michigan State run on a layup and two made free throws from Richardson. Michigan guard LJ Cason split a pair of free throws just before the half ended, putting the game at 38-34 Wolverines heading into the locker room.

HALFTIME: Michigan 38, Michigan State 34

Second half

Michigan State roared out to a quick 6-0 run coming out of the locker room, taking the lead back at 40-38 with 17:55 left on the clock thanks to threes from Richardson and Fears. Goldin answered with a personal 4-0 run to put the Wolverines back ahead 42-40 with 16:26 remaining. The Spartans went on another 6-0 run to push their lead to 46-42 with 13:14 to go, stopped by a pair of Goldin free throws at 12:56 to bring the game to 46-44.

Akins put a pair on the board with a layup at 12:42, answered at the other end by a three-pointer from Burnett (48-47, 12:35 to go), before Hollomon hit a three to put the Spartans back ahead four. Goldin made a layup at 11:49 to bring the game to 51-49 before a 6-0 run from Hollomon on a pair of made threes extended MSU’s lead to 57-49 with 10:49 to go.

Wolf got Michigan a little closer with a layup to bring the game to 57-51 in favor of MSU. The Spartans rattled off another scoring run from there, getting five points via a Jaxson Kohler layup, Richardon free throw and a Fears layup. Michigan cut into the lead with a pair of Gayle free throws to bring the contest to 62-53 with 7:39 to go. It would kick off an 8-0 run that got the Wolverines back into the fight late, down 62-59 with 5:37 to go. The Spartans would hold onto their lead and add to it, up 68-62 with 3:16 remaining and the final media timeout.

Michigan did not score in the final 4:12, juxtaposed with a 9-0 MSU run. The Spartans would win the contest and move to first place in the Big Ten.

FINAL: Michigan State 75, Michigan 62

Michigan vs. Michigan State box score