Michigan Basketball: Wolverines get season-changing win over Spartans

The Michigan Wolverines traveled to East Lansing on Saturday afternoon and picked up their biggest win all season over a struggling Michigan State Spartans team.

The Michigan basketball team dropped Big Ten games against two of the top teams in the Conference. Ohio State came earlier, and Purdue was on Tuesday. The Wolverines needed a big-time win.

The Michigan State Spartans seemed to be on a roll with a 30 point victory over Maryland. Then came a red-hot Ohio State team who handed them their first conference loss. They had to go to overtime to defeat Rutgers. Michigan State was struggling to figure things out.

It’s not surprising that the Wolverines, in search for a big-time victory, were going to play a struggling Spartans team close.

Michigan used their best player to their advantage. Moe Wagner is a 6-10 junior forward who dropped 27 points and shot 3-4 from downtown. Michigan State’s big men couldn’t compete. Nick Ward doesn’t hit the three-pointer, and Jaren Jackson Jr. was just 1 for 3 from there.

For the first half though, it was the Miles Bridges and Ward show. When those two are going, the Spartans are certainly one of the best team’s in the country.

Ward made all four of his points and recorded four of his five boards in the first half. Bridges dropped nine points and really took over. Michigan State held a 37-34 lead at halftime.

The second half started with the first eight points coming from free throws as Michigan took a 40-39 lead. Both team’s got into bonus very early in the second half.

Ward was one of those guys who picked up fouls. He committed his third at the 17:36 mark in the second half. He went to the bench, and Bridges struggled to take over.

That’s what the 6-7 guard from Flint, Michigan is expected to do. Jaren Jackson Jr. did a great job contributing in the absence of Ward. He threw in 19 points, blocked six shots, but only grabbed three boards. Xavier Tillman saw 12 minutes off the bench and made the most of it. He put in five and contributed all across the board.

While Bridges struggled on Michigan State’s end, the Wolverines found contributors in their backcourt. Zavier Simpson, only averaging 5.7 points per game, put in 16 with five coming from free-throws.

Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman, along with Wagner, both went perfect from the free throw line. Abdur-Rahkman dropped 14 points on only 3-11 from the field and 1-4 from behind-the-arc so getting to the charity stripe was working.

The Wolverines certainly capitalized with Ward being on the bench and failing to score in the second half. Not only did Ward pick up four fouls but he committed three turnovers. As a team, the Spartans turned the ball over 18 times.

Charles Matthews, Michigan basketball’s leading scorer at over 15 points per game, only dropped 10. He also failed to record a three-pointer. The difference between both Michigan teams is that the road team found other scorers and kept better control of the ball.

Simpson showed signs of being a capable point guard. He dished out five assists and didn’t commit a turnover. The Spartans point, on the other hand, only dropped two dimes and turned it over four times.

Despite the Spartans slightly edging the Wolverines in free throw shooting in a game where a lot of fouls occurred, the turnovers killed. Bridges struggled at times taking over and being the man. When the Wolverines’ usual star wasn’t scoring as much as he normally does, others stepped up.

Next: Where do the Spartans and Wolverines land in Bracketology?

Certainly, the Michigan basketball team made a huge jump on the Big Ten bubble watch. They are extremely close to securing a lock position for the NCAA Tournament as the conference struggles this season. On the other hand, Michigan State may stay off the number one line for a while, but the team is too talented to be down for an extended period of time.