WATCH: Kyle Church, Michigan players preview showdown at MSU
ANN ARBOR – The Michigan Wolverines will not be playing for a share of the Big Ten regular season title on Sunday as originally planned. Three losses in the last five games and a hot streak from Michigan State helped the Spartans to an outright title after a win over Iowa on Thursday.
Michigan assistant coach/general manager Kyle Church spoke to the media on Friday morning and said despite the lessened stakes for Sunday’s showdown in East Lansing, the implications are still huge.
”It’s still a huge rivalry game,” Church said. “Obviously, they took it to us the second half here at Crisler. I don’t think there’s any worry about motivation at all for our guys. I know we’ve dropped a couple in a row. We have got to start playing good basketball. Our guys know that. It’ll be fun. It’ll be an awesome environment.
“I’m sure they’ll probably have some sort of ceremony for winning the championship. They deserve it with an incredible year they’ve had. Best three weeks of college basketball I’ve ever seen. We’re excited to get up there and hopefully play good basketball.”
The Spartans came into Crisler Center and won 75-62 on Feb. 21, and Church said there were some lessons learned by Michigan in the defeat.
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“The transition offense and the offensive glass, just like the last 30 years, they’re great at it,” Church said. “They really hurt us with it in the first half of our game here. And then the second half, they put on a shooting barrage of threes that really separated late in that game. We gotta, we gotta do those two things first and foremost. And then they’ve also, they’ve also shot the ball really well the last two weeks.”
Church’s full session with the media can be viewed above, in addition to sessions with graduates Vlad Goldin and Nimari Burnett.
Graduate center Vlad Goldin
What he said on no title on the line: “ The balance is now it’s like regular season is out of our hands. So it allows us to play free and not like stress about any other stuff. It help us to like, feel more confident, play with loose hands. And it’s a good preparation for the tournament, because we’re gonna obviously see good teams in the tournament, and that’s a good preparation.”
Graduate guard Nimari Burnett
What he said on shooting struggles from Michigan: “ I’ve been on that side of it where I wasn’t shooting particularly well, but the rest of the team was. I think it’s just about staying confident and reps and staying in the gym, but keeping a clear mind as possible during the season is really tough to do so.”
