Michigan
19-3,14-3Big Ten
Michigan State
15-11,9-11Big Ten
Smith Reaches 500 Career Assists as Michigan Falls to MSU
3/7/2021 7:30:00 PM | Men's Basketball
» Chaundee Brown led Michigan with 13 points.
» Mike Smith reached 500 career assists in second half, and now has 504 in his collegiate career.
» Isaiah Livers scored nine points and needs just 13 more to reach 1,000 in his U-M career.
Site: East Lansing, Mich. (Breslin Center)
Score: Michigan State 70, #2 Michigan 64
Records: U-M (19-3, 14-3 B1G), MSU (15-11, 9-11 B1G)
Next U-M Event: Friday, March 12 -- at Big Ten Tournament (Indianapolis, Ind.), 11:30 a.m.
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- The No. 2-ranked University of Michigan men's basketball team dropped its regular-season finale, 70-64, at Michigan State on Sunday (March 7) at the Breslin Center. It was the Wolverines first loss to an unranked team this season.
Michigan shot 42 percent (25-for-60) from the field and 32 percent from beyond the arc. Four players scored in double digits, led by senior Chaundee Brown Jr., who had 13 points, including two three-pointers, and four rebounds. Freshman center Hunter Dickinson had 12 points, including shooting 4-for-6 from the charity stripe, and added a team-best seven rebounds.
Graduate transfer Mike Smith chipped in 11 points, and with his seven assists surpassed 500 for his collegiate career (504). Sophomore Franz Wagner had 11 points, six rebounds and five assists.
Both teams struggled to get into a rhythm offensively in the first half. Michigan was 10-for-28 from the field with the biggest storyline being the injury of senior guard Eli Brooks. Brooks, who made five of Michigan's first seven points, left the court with an ankle injury after rough landing on a jumper less than five minutes into the game. He did not return to the game.
MSU used that as an opening to go on a 7-0 run and take a 12-7 lead. The five points would be the most the Wolverines would let the Spartans get ahead in the first half, as they held MSU to 12-for-30 shooting in the first half.
Smith ended the drought after 3:44, and the Wolverines scored seven of the next 10 points to regain the lead, 16-15, on an Isaiah Livers jumper.
The Spartans responded with a 10-5 stretch to tilt the score back in their favor, 25-21. After Livers hit a pair of free throws, the teams traded three-pointers before an MSU bucket pushed the Spartans ahead, 30-26, at the half.
MSU had a 20-2 edge in bench points in the first half, but Brown gave Michigan a lift off the bench, scoring eight of the team's first 10 points in the second half.
The Spartans used an 12-4 run in a four-minute span to take a double-digit lead at 48-38. Brown snapped the Wolverines' scoring drought of 4:14 with Dickinson following up with two points in the paint, cutting the deficit to 48-42.
MSU took its largest lead of the game, 55-49, before Michigan responded with a Wagner layup to kick start a 15-6 stretch that would get the Wolverines within three points, 66-59, on an and-one from Dickinson.
MSU responded with a three on the other end and added a pair of Gabe Brown free throws with 36 seconds remaining to push the Spartan lead to 66-59.
Wagner nailed a three with 31 seconds remaining as Michigan closed to within four before a timeout was called. A Brown and Wagner double-team trap on at the sideline forced an MSU turnover, and Michigan took the ball with four points separating the teams.
Livers tried a three, but a defensive rebound and a foul gave MSU possession and sent Gabe Brown to the line with 19.1 seconds left. After making a pair of free throws, he gave his the Spartans a 68-62 edge. Smith's layup would be Michigan's final basket as MSU was sent to the line for two more free throws to cap the scoring.
The Wolverines earned the No. 1 seed for the Big Ten Tournament and received a double bye and will not begin play until the quarterfinal on Friday (March 12) at 11:30 a.m. on Big Ten Network.
