Michigan
24-4; 13-4
Michigan State
23-5; 14-3
Michigan Drops First Home Game of Season Against Michigan State
2/24/2019 7:54:00 PM | Men's Basketball
» Zavier Simpson led the way with 19 points.
» Ignas Brazdeikis added 16 points and nine rebounds.
» Michigan's loss was the first at home this season.
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Crisler Center)
Score: #10 Michigan State 77, #7 Michigan 70
Records: U-M (24-4, 13-4 B1G), MSU (23-5, 14-3 B1G)
Next U-M Event: Thursday, Feb. 28 -- vs. Nebraska (Crisler Center), 7 p.m. (TV: ESPN)
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- A second-half scoring spurt by the Spartans proved to be too much for the Wolverines, as the University of Michigan men's basketball team (No. 7 AP, No. 7 Coaches Poll) came up short in a 77-70 loss against No. 10-ranked Michigan State on Sunday afternoon (Feb. 24) at Crisler Center. The loss was the first at home for U-M.
Trailing, 39-38, at halftime, the Wolverines opened the second half on a 14-6 run to take a 51-45 lead with 15:42 remaining. Michigan State followed with an 11-4 run over the next six and a half minutes, during which Michigan hit just one of its eight shot attempts.
Two free throws from senior Charles Matthews cut the Michigan State lead to 56-55 with 8:22 remaining. Over the next three minutes, the Spartans continued to hold off the Wolverines and  a Xavier Tillman dunk gave Michigan State its largest lead of the day, 64-57, with 5:12 remaining.
The Spartans held an eight-point advantage, 66-58, heading into final media timeout. After a flurry of three-point attempts from the Wolverines, they unable to cut into the MSU lead and trailed, 70-62, with under a minute remaining.
A steal and quick trey from sophomore Jordan Poole cut the deficit to 70-65 with 40.2 seconds to go in regulation. Two Spartan free throws brought the game back up to a three-possession contest, followed by another Poole three that trimmed the lead to our points, but the Wolverines would get no closer. Â
Four Wolverines scored in double figures, including a team-high 19 points from junior Zavier Simpson. Freshman Ignas Brazdeikis added 16. Poole and junior Jon Teske finished with 15 and 10, respectively. Teske produced his fifth double-double of the season with a team-best 11 rebounds. Â
Simpson added five boards and two assists, while Brazdeikis hauled in nine rebounds.
Michigan's first basket came on a Teske, who was fouled on the play and made the ensuing free throw attempt. After both teams traded three-pointers, Michigan jumped ahead to an early 6-4 advantage in the first two minutes. Teske forced three Michigan State fouls early, leading to a 10-8 edge with 15:56 remaining in the opening half.
Coming off a Michigan State triple, Simpson drove to the basket and converted on a contested layup with 14:26 to play in the first to give Michigan a 14-13 lead. The Spartans responded with another bucket from long-distance, followed by sophomore Isaiah Livers hitting a three of his own.
Michigan snapped a scoring drought that lasted just over two minutes with a Simpson three, cutting the Michigan State lead to two, 22-20, with 11:22 remaining in the first. After pulling down a defensive rebound, Brazdeikis took the ball the length of court, isolated his defender and knocked down a step-back three as Michigan led, 28-27, with 7:51 until the half.
David DeJulius took a charge with 5:26 left in the half, reinvigorating the sellout Crisler crowd, and a Matthews miss led to a Brazdiekis offensive rebound and putback, making the score 39-37 in favor of MSU with under a minute remaining in the half. The Spartans would take that two-point lead to the locker room at halftime.
Michigan dominated the glass in the first half, out-rebounding Michigan State 18-8. Simpson's 10 points led the Wolverines at the half.
The second frame kicked off with a pair of Brazdeikis free throws to tie the game up at 39. After Cassius Winston and Poole traded layups, Brazdeikis was fouled on a three-point attempt and knocked down all three shots to make it 44-41, Michigan.
Free throws from Poole followed by a two-hand slam by Brazdeikis extended the Wolverine lead to 51-45 and forced a Michigan State timeout.
In just four and a half minutes, the Michigan offense forced five Spartan team fouls, leading to 8-for-8 shooting at the free-throw line and putting U-M on a 14-6 run to start the second half.
Michigan State picked up its seventh team foul of the half with 13:11 still left to play. A Spartan free throw tied the game at 51-51 and marked the ninth tie of the contest.
Overall, the Wolverines were held to 35.7 percent shooting (10-for-28) in the second half, including 14.3 percent (2-for-14) from three. Despite holding the rebounding advantage in the first, Michigan was out-rebounded 21-13 in the second half.
The Wolverines will be back in action Thursday (Feb. 28), when they host Nebraska at Crisler Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m., and the game will be broadcast on ESPN.
