Michigan basketball vs. Michigan State: Preview, prediction for regular season finale

[ad_1]

Well, this is anticlimactic.

Slowly but surely over the past four months, Michigan basketball climbed its way from off the radar to a cute story to a red-hot team to perhaps the best story in college basketball.

By mid-February, it seemed all but certain that some portion of the Big Ten championship would be decided in the season finale in East Lansing.

Michigan’s Danny Wolf (1) attempts a shot against Michigan State’s Coen Carr (55) and Tre Holloman (5) during the second half of their matchup at Crisler Center in Ann Arbor, on Friday, Feb. 21, 2025.

FINALE: Michigan basketball’s gameplan to win rivalry rematch vs Michigan State

As it turned out, U-M simply ran out of gas. The Wolverines have lost three of five games — for the first time all year —and yet it took MSU going on a six-game win streak, with five victories over NCAA tournament teams (Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Maryland and Wisconsin) and then knocking off Iowa on its senior night, to earn the top spot.

“I’m sure they’ll probably have some sort of ceremony for winning the championship, which they deserve,” U-M assistant coach Kyle Church said. “What an incredible year they’ve had. One of the best three weeks of college basketball I’ve ever seen. But we’re excited to get up there and hopefully play good basketball.”

The league title being out of reach doesn’t make the season finale meaningless, however.

First off, it’s the rivalry, and it’s still only the eighth time this century that the two sides will meet as top-15 foes.

Second, and likely more important — as Church said — U-M simply has to play better heading into the postseason.

The Wolverines entered Saturday last in the Big Ten in turnover rate, next to last in 3-point shooting in conference play and in the bottom third in defensive rebounding. That doesn’t exactly give deep-run-in-March vibes. Even worse, those are the things MSU does well (albeit with a bit of variability from beyond the arc).

“I think every opponent they’ve played all year has said…

[ad_2]
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/article/michigan-basketball-vs-michigan-state-100605432.html

Author : Detroit Free Press

Publish date : 2025-03-09 10:06:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.