Wolverines to Battle No. 10 Spartans for Top Spot in Big Ten

Sunday, February 24

Ann Arbor, Mich.

3:45 PM

Michigan

Michigan State

Wolverines to Battle No. 10 Spartans for Top Spot in Big Ten

2/22/2019 6:25:00 PM | Men's Basketball

By: Tom Wywrot

» No. 7 Michigan hosts No. 10 Michigan State in a key battle for the Big Ten conference lead.
» Sunday's game will be a matchup between U-M's Big Ten-leading defense (57.7 ppg, third nationally) against MSU's potent offense (80.2 ppg, second Big Ten, 36th nationally).
» U-M has won its last 22 games at Crisler Center, which is sold out for the 14th straight game.
» The Wolverines will honor the 30th anniversary of U-M's 1989 National Championship team as well as hold its annual alumni reunion at Sunday's game.
» The game against the Spartans has been designated a "Maize Out."

THIS WEEK
Sunday, Feb. 24 – vs. Michigan State (Crisler Center), 3:50 p.m.

• Watch: Coach Beilein Media Roundtable

The seventh-ranked University of Michigan men's basketball team (24-3, 13-3 Big Ten) will host intrastate rival No. 10-ranked Michigan State (22-5, 13-3 Big Ten) for the lead in the Big Ten standings at a sold out Crisler Center on Sunday (Feb. 24). In a CBS broadcast, tipoff is scheduled for 3:50 p.m. with Spero Dedes, Bill Raftery and Grant Hill on the call.

A Little Bit About Michigan State

• Michigan State comes to Ann Arbor with a 22-5 overall record, which includes a 13-3 mark in Big Ten play. The Spartans are 9-4 away from home this season, with a 6-2 Big Ten road record.
• Junior guard Cassius Winston leads MSU in scoring (18.9 ppg), assists (7.4 apg) and three-pointers made (69, 2.5 per game). Winston's 7.4 assists per game lead the Big Ten and rank fourth nationally.
• Junior forward Nick Ward is MSU's second-leading scorer at 15.1 points per game, but he suffered a hand injury against Ohio State (Feb. 17) that required surgery and he is unlikely to play in Sunday's game. He is shooting 60.4 percent from the field and pulling down 6.7 rebounds per game.
• Senior guard Matt McQuaid is MSU's top three-point shooter by percentage at 44.1 percent, after draining 49 long range buckets. The Spartans top defender also averages 8.8 points per game and is shooting 83.3 percent from the free-throw line. Redshirt senior forward Kenny Goins is pulling down an MSU-best 9.0 rebounds per game, while averaging 7.2 points per contest.
• Michigan State, which averages 80.2 points per game, leads the country in assists with 19.5 per contest. The Spartans are second nationally in blocks (5.8), third in field-goal defense (37.1 percent) and fifth in rebounding (41.9). Overall, MSU shoots 48.6 percent from the field.
• Tom Izzo is in his 24th season as head coach at Michigan State. He has led the Spartans to eight Big Ten regular-season titles, seven Final Fours and led the Spartans to the 2000 national title.

The Series with the Spartans

• Sunday's game will mark the 188th all-time meeting between Michigan and Michigan State.
• U-M holds a 106-81 record in the all-time series against Michigan State and has won the last three meetings.
• Sunday's game is the first of two regular-season meetings. The Wolverines will close the regular season in East Lansing on Saturday, March 9.
• The Maize and Blue is 67-30 all-time against the Spartans in games played at Crisler Center.
• There have been eight total overtime games in the series with U-M holding a 6-2 advantage. The last OT game was a 76-66 setback at the Breslin Center on Feb. 1, 2015.
• Sunday's game will mark the 14th time Michigan and Michigan State have faced each other when both programs were among the nation's top 25. The Spartans lead, 7-6, when both teams were ranked.
• There have been 37 games decided by three points or fewer, with U-M leading, 21-16. The last time a game was decided by three points or fewer was U-M's 58-57 win at Crisler Center on March 2, 2013. With the game tied at 56 with 23 second left, Trey Burke's steal and dunk gave the Wolverines a two-point advantage with 20 seconds left. MSU's Derrick Nix was fouled with eight seconds remaining, he went 1-for-2 from the line as the Spartans trailed by one. After a foul, U-M's Mitch McGary missed the front end of a 1-and-1 giving MSU a chance for a final shot. However, another steal by Burke with one second left sealed the win for the Wolverines.

This and That

• Since going 5-for-11 (45.4 percent) at the free-throw line at Wisconsin (Jan. 19), Michigan has shot 74.3 percent (90-for-121) over its last nine games. For the season, U-M shoots 68.8 percent from the charity stripe.
• Michigan held Minnesota (Feb. 21) to just one three-pointer. That tied a season-low for a U-M opponent after Penn State made just one in the game at Crisler Center (Jan. 3). U-M's opponents make just 4.7 per game.
• After not recording an assist against Minnesota on Jan. 22 at Crisler Center, Zavier Simpson has dished 72 (8.0 apg) dimes over his next nine games, including a career-best 12, twice -- against Ohio State (Jan. 29) and at Minnesota (Feb. 21). His 12 helpers against the Buckeyes led to U-M's sixth triple-double in program history.
• Jordan Poole posted his fourth 20-plus point game with 22 at Minnesota (Feb. 21). He has 19 double-figure scoring games this season -- second only to Ignas Brazdeikis' 21.
• For the fifth time this season, Jon Teske tied a career best with 17 points at Minnesota (Feb. 21). He finished the game 7-for-11 from the field and 3-for-6 from deep, tying a career high for long-range makes.
• In addition to his 17 points, Teske posted a career-best five blocks against the Gophers. It is the third time he has matched his career high this season. Teske leads the Big Ten in blocks (2.3 per game). He has had at least one block in 26 games and in his last 22 straight. His 63 blocks are the most for a Wolverine since Ekpe Udoh had 92 in 2007-08 -- 11 seasons ago.
• Since going 1-for-7 at Indiana (Jan. 25), Isaiah Livers has gone 16-for-28 (57.1%) from the field in his last seven games, including 9-for-19 (47.3 percent) from long range. Livers has made at least one three-pointer in his last 11 games, and 60 percent of his shots this season have been from long range.

It Has Been How Long? … 36 Years!

• This season, Zavier Simpson has recorded three games with 10 assists or more, the most by a Wolverine player since Eric Turner posted three games of 10 or more dimes during the 1982-83 season -- 36 years ago.
• The all-time record is seven games by Darius Morris in the 2010-11 season.
• The last Wolverine to have four in a season was Trey Burke during the 2012-13 season.
• Below are the tallies of three in a season for Simpson and Turner:

» Simpson: 10 Binghamton (Dec. 30, 2018), 12 Ohio State (Jan. 29, 2019) and 12 at Minnesota (Feb. 21, 2019)
» Turner: 11 Cleveland State (Dec. 8, 1982), 11 Penn (Dec. 30, 1982) and 10 Minnesota (March 5, 1983)

Season Numbers Growing

• The Wolverines 24 wins this season mark the ninth time under head coach John Beilein, and the 30th overall in U-M history, that a team has won 20 games or more in a season.
• Among those nine 20-plus win seasons, Beilein owns two of the program's four 30-plus win seasons, including the program record of 33 wins set last season. Beilein also finished 31-8 in 2012-13. Both of his 30-plus win seasons included trips to the Final Four and national title game.
• U-M's 13 Big Ten wins give Beilein his fourth straight season of 10 Big Ten wins or more. He has reached double-digit wins in seven of the last eight seasons. Those seven seasons are the most of any U-M coach in program history -- passing Steve Fisher (6), Bill Frieder (6) and Johnny Orr (6).
• Already the all-time winningest coach at U-M with 272 wins, Beilein became U-M's all-time Big Ten wins leader -- passing Johnny Orr (120) -- with a 77-65 victory at Rutgers (Feb. 5). Beilein, who has 124 conference victories, is one of 21 Big Ten coaches to win 100 conference games or more in a career.