Michigan State holds on for gritty rivalry win vs. Michigan
Michigan State and Michigan renewed their rivalry series on the hardwood Saturday afternoon. While neither team operated at a particularly efficient level, Tom Izzo’s Spartans held on for a tough 59-53 win.
A big story for the Spartans in the win was the work of Malik Hall. Hall has been steadily working his way back into shape since missing a month with a foot injury.
The forward had a strong first half off the bench but appeared to reinjure his foot or ankle heading into halftime. Fortunately, Hall returned in the second half and finished the game tied for the team lead with 15 points.
AJ Hoggard contributed 15 points, 6 assists, 4 rebounds and 2 steals in a well-rounded performance for the Spartans while Tyson Walker added 14 points and a pair of 3-point field goals. Together, the backcourt duo for Michigan State came up big with both teams struggling to shoot the ball.
Despite the win, the Spartans shot just 37.5% from the floor but did manage to shoot 31.6% from 3-point range. In the end, it was 3-point shooting and Michigan State’s defensive effort against Juwan Howard’s team that made the difference.
Though he managed to finish the game with 18 points, Hunter Dickinson was held to 4 points heading into halftime. The Spartans stifled the big man early and forced Michigan to play from behind throughout the second half.
Kobe Bufkin (15 points) and Jett Howard (10) finished in double figures for the Wolverines but no one was particularly efficient on Saturday. As a team, Michigan finished 3-for-20 from 3-point range in the loss.
In the big picture, the win by Michigan State knots up the top of the B1G standings with Michigan the last remaining team undefeated in conference play at the time of the game. Coming out of Saturday, first place in the B1G standings is a 5-way tie between Michigan, MSU, Purdue, Wisconsin and Rutgers.
There is still a long way to go in league play, but it figures to be another dramatic race to the conference title.