Michigan State 87, Michigan 69
It's hard to do much but tip your cap.
Juwan Howard, Zavier Simpson, and Michigan's defense threw everything they had at Cassius Winston. When Winston hit a series of pull-ups against drop pick-and-roll coverage, the Wolverines started trapping, only for MSU's All-American senior to find his teammates for layups. And that was just in the halfcourt. Winston's ability to constantly push the pace, combined with poor transition defense, led to a lot of easy buckets, even after Michigan makes.
Winston was a marvel, scoring a career-high 32 points on 24 shooting possessions with nine assists against only two turnovers. He punished mismatches, controlled the flow of the game, and made shot after shot.
When Winston wasn't scoring, he was creating quality shots. [Campredon]
Without Isaiah Livers, who's out indefinitely with a groin injury, Michigan had trouble keeping pace all game. His replacement, Brandon Johns, scored 12 points, but his hesitation to pull from three-point range allowed the Spartans to send extra help at Simpson and Jon Teske. Franz Wagner, a potential source of three-point shooting to cover for Livers's absence, got off to a slow start and scored most of his ten points when the game was largely decided.
Teske's persistent second-half foul trouble and a lack of lineup flexibility—particularly with Wagner, Johns, and Simpson all dealing with at least three fouls of their own—led to 15 minutes of Austin Davis on the court. While Davis proved more game than Colin Castleton at dealing with MSU's big men, and he even scored seven points with a couple nice post finishes, his presence also limited what M could do on both ends.
Yeah, that's pretty far onto the court. [Campredon]
This made for a frustrating game. Every time Michigan got one run away from making it tight, Winston would hit a dagger, or the offense would stall, or both. The Wolverines started 6-for-10 from the field; they went 19-for-59 thereafter. The Spartans also opened 6-for-10; they closed 22-for-43. Michigan also struggled from the free-throw line. Simpson, trying his hardest to match Winston, needed 20 shot equivalents for his 14 points; Teske needed 14 for his team-high 15 points; Eli Brooks disappeared, scoring his only two points on a designed play for a layup; David DeJulius went 3-for-9 from the field.
That frustration boiled over even for mild-mannered Juwan Howard with his team down 15 early in the second half. After Julius Marble made a particularly physical stop on Davis with no whistle, Howard ran onto the court to protest, actually stopping an MSU fast break in progress as the officials gave him a technical. Michigan managed to cut the deficit to single digits twice after that; both times, MSU answered before the Wolverines could score again.
Michigan falls to 10-4 overall and 1-2 in Big Ten play. It won't get too much easier in the next week, when they host Purdue on Thursday before a trip to Minnesota on Sunday. If Livers isn't ready to come back soon, this could be a tough stretch; today showed just how critical a piece he is to this team on both ends of the court.
[Hit THE JUMP for the box score.]
January 5th, 2020 at 6:16 PM ^
I mean this was a road game and we were without Livers . . . you really were expecting a win today?
January 5th, 2020 at 6:02 PM ^
Score one for the angry midget
January 5th, 2020 at 6:07 PM ^
Why do all these Sparties stick around so long?
January 5th, 2020 at 9:44 PM ^
Because East Lansing is a backwater in the middle of nowhere and Sparty is the only game in town. Unless Izzo hates a player (or the reverse), he finds a way to keep talent around.
January 5th, 2020 at 6:15 PM ^
Castleton was +5? I would not have guessed that.
Not our day today. Hopefully Livers is close to returning.
January 5th, 2020 at 6:46 PM ^
Based on last 4 Michigan - MSU b-ball games, coaches need to adjust Zavier - Cassius matchup. Maybe a little more DDJ on Cassius? We cannot lose to them with another Cassius dominated game.
January 5th, 2020 at 6:53 PM ^
Johns hit a 3 to put us within 8 with a little over 7 minutes left. The final 7 minutes we scored only 6 points and 4 of them were from free throws. I really just feel like MSU is finding their balance as a team as we are still hunting for it with Livers out. Hoping coach can get us back into balance this week.
January 5th, 2020 at 6:59 PM ^
Yep. Just not enough shooting on the floor without Livers. Wagner/Brooks/DDJ a combined 6-19 and Simpson 6-18.
Still, a frustrating game. There must have been at least ten possessions where we were down 8 to 11 points, where I thought, 'just a stop or a make and we are right back in it!'...then Winston hits a shot, or we fumble away a chance...
Incredible game by Winston, and Simpson will never be able to keep pace with him on offense--though he is an absolute warrior! Like the effort, no reason to panic, we still have a decent shot at the Big Ten title...but this game does show how valuable Livers is...
January 5th, 2020 at 7:05 PM ^
4 straight losses to our main rival. Grab your pitchfork /s
January 5th, 2020 at 7:09 PM ^
Winston beat that ass....officials werent the issue.
January 5th, 2020 at 7:14 PM ^
There is no reason for shock or even disappointment-an outcome in this ballpark figure could be seen from a million miles away. Livers is the biggest difference-maker on the Michigan roster-by about a million miles also. And be prepared-a groin injury to a basketball player is hell...and Michigan has no replacement for Livers.
January 5th, 2020 at 7:42 PM ^
Yeah it was a season changing injury for the team.
January 5th, 2020 at 7:25 PM ^
As I said to that silly bastard last week: Basketball team is not elite.
January 5th, 2020 at 7:39 PM ^
Bajema should be seeing more minutes, Brooks played 36 minutes and only got 2 points... could Bajema really be that much of a liability compared to Brooks? Bajema has a lot more upside being just a freshman.
January 5th, 2020 at 10:09 PM ^
There are reasons why things happen. Brooks, in particular, takes a huge hit in the absence of Livers.
I did not see the game-didn't really have to...I have seen the box score. Michigan will never win a game with Simpson taking 18 shots-never. Clearly MSU was able to dictate a lot on defense and able to contest Michigan's shots more than they were used to. This will continue as long as Livers is out because, here, Michigan has no replacement.
January 5th, 2020 at 10:49 PM ^
Brooks was struggling even before Livers went out. I think he was scoreless against Oregon, and he didn’t do well against Louisville.
January 5th, 2020 at 8:39 PM ^
Fire Howard! And if there’s a Don Brown of the basketball staff, fire him too! Fire everyone!
January 5th, 2020 at 9:17 PM ^
Woof, The +/- for the starting 5 is brutal, especially Franz and Brooks.
They need to pull the trigger or make a hard move to the rack. They need to be more aggressive on offense especially if the defense is not getting any stops.
Michigan has been torched by Pritchard and Winston now (albeit two of the best PGs in the country) and it seemed like they made no adjustments to deal with it. Hopefully they have something for next time.
January 5th, 2020 at 11:07 PM ^
my biggest disappointments and things that need to be improved asap:
1. castleton has not improved on iota this year. in fact, i think davis is playing much better than him. very disconcerting going forward if/when teske gets in foul trouble. i think davis can hold up well against backups but against the elite centers in the BIG, he will struggle. stop making silling fouls, john.
2. johns help defense is terrible. why he feels the need to overplay his men (like bingham and kithier) is beyond me. this causes him to be late in providing help near the rim. and it's not just this game. it's every game. they need to coach him to sag off his man more to provide better help.
3. wagner and brooks need to become more aggressive and consistent on offense, especially with livers out, else we will be in trouble.
4. way too many open 3s are being passed up (especially johns and brooks). take the damn open shot when it's there. better than passing it around for a worse shot or a turnover.
very important stretch coming up. we need to win two out of the next three. we may be underdogs on the road against iowa and minn; especially with livers out. need to steal one of those.
Go Blue!!
January 6th, 2020 at 11:00 AM ^
I agree, tip of the cap to MSU. That said, as always, it was hard to watch Izzo whine to the refs. Also noticed their entire team follows his lead. Great play from a bunch of great whiners.
I was proud that Michigan’s coach and players did the exact opposite and in the face of some questionable ticky tack calls. Especially in such an emotional game. Go Blue!
January 6th, 2020 at 11:58 AM ^
Eli got off to a blazing start earlier in the year...posters were saying "he's better than Poole!" Now reality has kicked in and he is what he is, a role player who has streaky shooting. He's not the guy to rely on in big games.
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