Michigan State roars past Michigan 79-62, solidifying status as March Madness powerhouse
EAST LANSING — With Breslin Center a cauldron of cacophony, No. 7 Michigan State basketball put an exclamation point on coach Tom Izzo’s 11th Big Ten title with a 79-62 victory Sunday over the 15th-ranked Wolverines.
Tre Holloman had a career-high 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting for the Spartans, who led by as many as 24 points in the first half and pushed it to 61-36 a little more than six minutes into the second.
But with 37.2 seconds left and MSU trying to get senior Szymon Zapala a chance to kiss the logo per tradition, Holloman got into a pushing match with Michigan’s L.J. Cason and Phat Phat Brooks at midcourt. Holloman was issued a technical foul after first shoving the two Wolverines in the chest as they hovered on the middle of the Spartan helmet logo as Zapala was walking toward it.
During the postgame senior day ceremony, Izzo spoke to the crowd and brought football coach Jonathan Smith and former coach Mark Dantonio to the floor. He also summoned his former players of all eras to celebrate.
And he delivered a succinct message about the late-game incident.
“I give Michigan a lot of credit. (Coach Dusty May) has done a hell of a job,” Izzo said. “But we have a freaking tradition here. Nobody – NOBODY – is changing our tradition.”
The crowd erupted in celebration, and Izzo brought Holloman to center court to kiss the logo – quite likely the first underclassman to participate in the tradition that began with the first smooch 30 years go by Shawn Respert in 1995 that began after the Fab Five a few years earlier wiped their posteriors on MSU’s midcourt Block S.
Jase Richardson had 18 points and five rebounds, Jaden Akins scored 11 points with three assists and three steals on his senior day as MSU held U-M to 3-for-24 from 3-point range. Carson Cooper (eight) and Jaxon Kohler (seven) combined to help MSU outrebound the Wolverines, 39-30.
The Spartans’ reserves outscored U-M’s, 32-5.
MSU (26-5, 17-3) is the No. 1 seed in this week’s Big Ten tournament and will open play at noon Friday against the winner between No. 8 seed Oregon and No. 9 seed Indiana. Those two tip off at noon Thursday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
The Spartans, who have won seven straight heading into the postseason, took the first meeting against U-M, 75-62, on Feb. 21 in Ann Arbor. MSU has won five of the past six in the rivalry, including back-to-back season sweeps.
Vlad Goldin had 29 points and six rebounds and Danny Wolf added 18 points and 13 rebounds for U-M (22-9, 14-6), which will be the No. 3 seed in Indy and opens play with the final game Friday night around 9 p.m. The Wolverines, who trailed by as many as 25 points, used a 14-0 run to get within 11 in the middle of the second half.
Here’s what stood out from MSU’s victory Sunday:
On March 5, 2000, the Spartans capped Izzo’s third of four consecutive Big Ten title with authority, a 114-63 domination of the Wolverines that remains steeped in program lore. Richardson’s father, Jason, was part of that group that included Mateen Cleaves, Morris Peterson, Charlie Bell and the core that started MSU’s ascent into blueblood status.
From the outset Sunday, the buzz began building even before tipoff. The Spartans’ defense established the tone for tenacity by forcing U-M into four turnovers in the first 3:01. And when Akins drained back-to-back 3-pointers to give MSU an 8-3 lead after the fourth takeaway, Wolverines coach Dusty May called timeout to settle his players.
That didn’t work. The Spartans’ defensive intensity kept U-M rattled and forced 11 first-half turnovers that turned into 18 points. Seven of those were MSU steals, including three from redshirt freshman Jeremy Fears Jr. and two from Akins.
The Wolverines, who entered as a 34.3% 3-point shooting team but struggling lately, went 2-for-10 in the first half.
In the second half, U-M worked its way back by continually pumping the ball inside with its 7-footers Goldin and Wolf, who combined to score the Wolverines’ first 17 points of the second half and all but four of their final 34 points. They cut it to an 11-point MSU lead with the 14-0 run over 4:21.
But Richardson ended that with a 3-pointer, and the Spartans steadily rebuilt it by holding U-M without a field goal for nearly four minutes. MSU pushed the lead to 19 with 40.6 seconds to go on a Zapala put back.
The Spartans’ outside shooting struggles have been a recurring theme all season.
At least for one game — and Izzo’s hope, for the postseason ahead — they found a cure against the Wolverines.
Akins hit his first 3-pointer in transition. After a steal flipped it back MSU’s way quickly, he drilled his second.
Akins later set up Holloman for his first triple, then got a favor returned from the junior guard moments later for his third. After scoring 61 points in the second half of Thursday’s 91-84 comeback at Iowa, the Spartans posted a 50-28 halftime lead against the Wolverines by shooting 47.1% overall and draining 7 of 18 from 3-point range in the first half. Akins and Holloman each scored 11 points with three 3s.
MSU finished 9-for-24 from 3-point range, its third straight game with nine made behind the arc.
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.
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Couch: 3 quick takes on Michigan State basketball’s 79-62 win over Michigan as MSU raised a Big Ten championship banner
EAST LANSING – That was a proper send-off.
From and for a team that brought this Michigan State basketball program back to its standard. From a Breslin Center crowd that’s been great all season, but reached consistent decibels in the first half Sunday I haven’t heard in years. For a senior in Jaden Akins who set the tone, making sure this game had a chance to go how it went.
The middle of the second half took some steam out of what could have been an all-time satisfying finale, but everyone associated with MSU would have signed up for this outcome — a 79-62 win over Michigan for a 17th Big Ten win — before the day began.
This is an MSU team that has big dreams for the next few weeks. At 26-5, it’s already left an indelible mark on this season — for how it played and won, the joy it brought people, and the Big Ten championship banner it just raised, having won the league by three games.
You couldn’t script it any better for the Spartans — to close out the Big Ten title Thursday night and then pound their rivals for emphasis. It didn’t quite play out so dramatically, but the point was made.
The Spartans played the first half Sunday like they’ve played so many second halves — overwhelming their opponent defensively, and driving and feeding off the energy in the building.
It was too much to keep up. This, after all, is a good Michigan team, one that was leading the Big Ten race not long ago. And this is an imperfect MSU team, one that can fall into ruts offensively.
And so a 25-point second half lead — which was as high as 24 in the first half — got down to 11 after 14-0 Michigan run.
Jase Richardson saved and propelled MSU down the stretch — hitting a 3 when the lead was cut to 11 and then a driving layup when Michigan got the deficit back down to 12 a couple minutes later. Richardson finished with 18 points, five rebounds, three assists, another incredible and increasingly normal performance. He’s MSU’s guy. They leaned on him when it mattered Sunday and will again throughout March.
After the game, it took him a minute to realize fans were chanting “One more year” to him. Whatever he decides, this title means there’s something tangible to his legacy.
Tre Holloman’s career-high 20 points, Akins’ three early 3s, Jeremy Fears Jr.’s six assists, Jaxon Kohler’s nine points and seven rebounds — MSU got this done collectively, even if Akins’ cold-shooting after his hot start and Fears’ five turnovers played into a few semi-tense moments in the second half.
The tension picked up again in the final minute, as MSU’s seniors were checking out and kissing the logo and two Michigan players were standing in the way. Naturally, Holloman was in the middle of it, defending MSU’s honor.
“Nobody is taking our tradition,” Izzo told the crowd afterward.
That was a regular season for the ages by MSU. It’ll be appreciated because it was unclear if the Spartans would have another year like this under Izzo. The Spartans were unlikely champions who grew into the role. And, given the last seven games, finished it emphatically.
This is an MSU team with three seniors, but just one who’s earned the title in East Lansing. Jaden Akins has been a lot of things to MSU’s program — a tantalizing freshman, a sharp-shooting sophomore, a defensive hound, a senior who wanted to be great and had to find his way to accepting being good.
If this MSU team had a proven go-to guy entering the season, it would have helped Akins. Jase Richardson’s emergence certainly did.
The applause Akins got as he was honored postgame spoke to peoples’ appreciation for him. The tears from him said a lot, too.
Akins’ ability to keep playing with confidence and worth on both ends even when his shooting challenged that confidence will be part of his legacy this season. So will the winning. There have been better seniors at MSU. But not many of have them helped lead teams to where Akins helped lead this team.
He’s hit some big 3s over the last three games — hitting at least three in each of them and three in the first seven minutes Sunday. If he can hit a few more this postseason, a little more consistently, MSU has a chance to keep playing for a quite a while.
MSU will get an important few days to reset and prepare for the Big Ten tournament and beyond. The Spartans could use the exhale. This has been a grind. They won the grind. The postseason will be a different kind of grind.
The question now is how badly MSU wants to stick around in the Big Ten tournament. The championship is the regular season in the Big Ten, especially when it’s won outright, and when you’ve put everything the Spartans have into the last three months to win it, it’s hard to imagine them being as hungry in Indianapolis. The field is full of teams who will have more to gain. MSU is probably locked into a 2 seed in the NCAA tournament now and the Spartans have their Big Ten title.
MSU will face either 8-seed Oregon or 9-seed Indiana at noon Friday in Indianapolis. If Oregon is the opponent, I’d probably pick the Ducks. That’s a strong team that’ll be out to prove themselves and able to do so without traipsing the country. If it’s Indiana, well, the Spartans might want that one, given what happened at Breslin in early February. Maybe they’ll want it all. That’s a lot to ask. The real tournament for them is the following week.
Contact Graham Couch at gcouch@lsj.com. Follow him on X @Graham_Couch and BlueSky @GrahamCouch.
