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Michigan tops Michigan State in top-10 rivalry battle
By Andrew Olson
Published:
Michigan is officially on top in the Big Ten. The No. 3 Wolverines took sole possession of first place on Friday with an 83-71 win over No. 7 Michigan State on Friday night in East Lansing.
MSU’s upset hopes were in trouble out of the gate. The Spartans shot just 7-of-26 from the field in the first half. Michigan, on 15-of-33 shooting, had a 42-26 lead at the break and was able to hold on as Michigan State had a strong second half, but not by enough to overcome the giant deficit.
In the second half, Michigan State shot 44.1% to bring its game percentage up to 36.7%. When trying to erase a big lead, though, the Spartans were going to need some 3-pointers, and they didn’t fall. MSU shot 4-of-23 from beyond the arc in the game.
While Michigan State’s Jeremy Fears Jr. was the game’s high scorer with 31 points, Michigan’s Yaxel Lendeborg grabbed the headlines with a truly dominant performance. The Wolverine forward posted a double-double of 26 points and 12 rebounds.
Lendebord was 6-of-13 from the field, including 1 3-pointer. He went 13-of-15 at the foul line.
The Wolverines had 8 scorers to the Spartans’ 6 and got 20 points from the bench to MSU’s 12. Both squads had 4 players in double-figure scoring.
Michigan is now 20-1 overall and the hottest team in college basketball with back-to-back top-10 wins over No. 5 Nebraska and No. 7 MSU. The Wolverines are 10-1 in the B1G standings, with a half-game lead over 9-1 Nebraska and Illinois.
MSU is now 19-3 overall and 9-2 in conference play.
A former Florida beat reporter, Andrew writes for the Saturday Tradition News Desk.