Michigan State Picks Up Crucial Conference Win Over Michigan
The Michigan State Spartans earned an important tournament résumé win over in-state rival Michigan Wolverines at home on Sunday.
The Michigan State Spartans ended a three-game conference losing streak and bolstered their tournament résumé with an important 70-62 win over the rival Michigan Wolverines at home on Sunday.
A 7-0 run put the Spartans ahead 16-10 midway through the first half and they led by as many as seven points in the first, but a 9-0 run by the Wolverines gave Michigan the lead. The Spartans took the lead back down the stretch and went to halftime ahead 32-28.
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The Wolverines took 12 more field goal attempts than the Spartans in the first half, in part due to their eight offensive rebounds, but still made the same number of field goals as Michigan State in the first half (11).
Derrick Walton Jr. hit a pair of threes in the first minute of the second half for Michigan after the Wolverines had shot only 3-of-13 from beyond the arc in the first half. The lead went back and forth until an 18-5 run by the Spartans gave them their largest lead of the half, 57-45. The Wolverines kept it close, cutting the lead to five with 2:08 left, but the Spartans held on down the stretch, Cassius Winston making five of six free throws in the final two minutes to ice a 70-62 win.
Miles Bridges had a double-double, leading the Spartans with 13 rebounds and also scoring 15 points. He also had three steals and two blocks. Winston led Michigan State in scoring with 16 points and Nick Ward added 13. The Spartans shot 24/46 (52.2%) from the floor and 5/11 (45.5%) on three-point attempts.
Zak Irvin, Michigan’s leading scorer on the season, finished the game 0-for-8 from the floor as the Wolverines shot 19/56 (33.9%) overall and 7/26 from beyond the arc. Michigan came into the game with the fewest turnovers in the country, averaging nine per game, but committed 13 on Sunday, including 9 in the second half.
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Michigan State will be on the road on Thursday taking on Nebraska. Tip will be at 7:00 on ESPN or ESPN2.