Back and forth, back and forth. shot after shot. Bucket by bucket. Emotions running high, the sadness of a long week temporarily giving way to a basketball game that did justice to the history of the rivalry.
Somehow, the turning point in a wonderful basketball game was an airball in Ann Arbor.
With the game tied and just over two minutes to go, Michigan Basketball’s Joey Baker launched a 3-pointer from the right. It missed all but Michigan State basketball player Joey Hauser, who bounced off his back and rolled out of bounds.
On the inbounds, Kobe Bufkin dribbled around the Spartans’ Tyson Walker, almost losing the ball and squirting a 3-pointer through the net. Hauser was blocked on the other end, then Hunter Dickinson delivered the dagger with another 3-pointer.
game, wolverines.
Michigan center Hunter Dickinson (1) celebrates during the second half of a game against Michigan State on Saturday, February 18, 2023 at the Crisler Center in Ann Arbor.
While UM pulled away to an 84-72 win thanks to a 12-0 run with those 3 points and free throws, the Wolverines’ dominance on the offensive boards was a big difference.
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Even if it turned out that whoever helped the most was more of a fluke attributed to the team than an individual player.
Michigan dominated the boards 38-25, including a 14-6 advantage on the offensive glass – 10 of them in the second half led to 11 critical points for the second chance, the last coming on Bufkins 3 that finally gave the Wolverines the lead procured . Dickinson and Tarris Reed Jr. each hit three offensive rebounds in the second half and made big plays down the stretch.
Dug McDaniel’s 18 points led five Wolverines by double digits. Bufkin added 17 points and five rebounds, and Dickinson had 13 points and seven boards. Reed ended with 10 boards and eight points. The Wolverines shot 49.2% overall.
Hauser’s 20 points led the Spartans and Malik Hall added 14 in what may be his best game since returning from injury. Tyson Walker scored 11 as MSU made 47.5% of their shots.
After an emotional pregame ceremony where UM honored the victims of Monday’s shooting on the MSU campus, the two teams settled down after an emotional ceremony and kept in step with one another for much of the first half.
McDaniel scored seven straight points after Hauser opened the game with a foul line jumper – to applause from much of the crowd. Then Hauser caught fire, hitting a pair of 3-pointers and a driving layup to get 10 points on the period. His second deep bucket gave the Spartans a six-point lead midway through the half.
Then Hall started scoring and looking perhaps as good as he has since returning from a re-aggravated stress reaction in his left foot that forced him to miss three games in January. The 6-foot-8, 220-pound senior hit a jumper and a 3-pointer, then Walker followed up with a driving layup around Dickinson to give MSU a 33-25 lead four minutes before halftime.
Michigan State guard Jaden Akins (3) goes for a basket on Michigan State guard Jace Howard (25) in the second half Saturday, February 18, 2023 at the Crisler Center in Ann Arbor.
But the Spartans struggled to finish the half and UM pulled back to two on Dickinson’s three-point game with 1:31 left before halftime. Hall responded with a critical 3-pointer and MSU went into halftime with a 36-33 lead.
Both teams shot out the lights overall. MSU scored a sizzling 53.3%; Michigan scored a crisp 48.1%. Yet neither team performed well from the outside – the Spartans went 4-on-11 (36.4%), the Wolverines 4-on-14 (28.6%) – but each made 3-pointers that helped to swing the swing pendulum backwards. fourth first half.
In the second half, MSU veterans continued the revived offensive attack. Hauser was fouled and took three free throws outside the break, and Hoggard shared a doubles team for a layup. Newcomer Jaxon Kohler’s layup reduced the Spartans’ lead to five.
But MSU struggled to keep Michigan off the offensive glass, with Jett tipping Howard into the Wolverines’ sixth offensive board with a single possession and being fouled by Hall for a three-point play.
Howard then dribbled down the middle and hit a free-throw line jumper to set the game at 46-all 14-10. But the Michigan guard twisted his right ankle on landing and had to be benched. He didn’t come back.
From then on it went back and forth, one hire after the other. MSU either maintained the lead or stayed tied, extending it to a six-point lead with a Hoggard layup and Hauser’s third 3-pointer that made it 63-57 by 8:23 and prompted UM coach Juwan Howard to take some time off.
After a 3-pointer from Baker from the time-out, the Wolverines continued to attack the offensive glass to come right back in and reclaim their first lead since going 18-17 by just over 11½ minutes in the first half. Reed’s put-back via a Hauser foul for a three-point play put it back left at 6:59, then Reed tipped into a Bufkin miss and Dickinson followed with two free throws to take Michigan 5:20 to 67- 65 to bring play.
The Wolverines had 13 offensive rebounds by that point, but Hauser connected them to MSU’s fourth offensive board. And after Dickinson’s spin move layup around Hall, Hauser re-tied at the line.
Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo speaks with guard Tyson Walker during the second half against Michigan at the Crisler Center in Ann Arbor on Saturday, February 18, 2023.
Reed drew Sissoko’s fifth foul on a layup and benched the free throw to give UM a three-point lead again, but Walker responded with a 3-point lead at 2:28 to play again to equalize.
That was when fate and that one errant rebound from Hauser dashed MSU’s hopes of sweeping their rival and heading home to East Lansing with some joy.
Instead, the Spartans had to settle for being on the wrong end of an epic game.
Contact Chris Solari: [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @chrissolari.
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This article originally appeared in the Detroit Free Press: Michigan Basketball’s Decisive Sequence Leads to Michigan State’s Loss
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