MSU basketball battles, falls at rival Michigan in regular season finale

It was a tough effort from the Spartans but their upset bid at rival Michigan came up short late in the second half.

It was a tight game throughout but Michigan State’s offense dried up during a critical stretch in the second half, leading to a win for rival Michigan. The final score was 90-80 from the Crisler Center in Ann Arbor, Mich.

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It was a back-and-forth opening half, with some chippy play to start the game turning into some high-scoring hoops. Michigan led throughout most of the half, with a lead of as many as nine points at one point. But Michigan State was able to fight back and regain the lead late in the frame. A quick 5-0 run by the Wolverines pushed them ahead, 42-41, at halftime.

Michigan State came out firing to open the second half, and grabbed the momentum early into the frame. But Michigan swarmed the Spartans across the final 10 minutes of the game, pulling away in the final four minutes for the victory.

Michigan State got a bulk of its offense in this loss from Jaxon Kohler (23 points), Jeremy Fears Jr. (22 points) and Coen Carr (19 points). The Spartans only committed seven turnovers in the defeat, but allowed the Wolverines to shoot nearly 50% from three-point range, which was the ultimate difference in this game.

The win by the Wolverines on Sunday completed the regular season sweep of the Spartans. It was the first time since 2018 that Michigan State was swept in the regular season series against Michigan.

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Michigan State falls to 25-6 overall and 15-5 in Big Ten play with the loss on Sunday. The Spartans will have a triple-bye in the Big Ten Tournament next week as either the No. 2 or No. 3 seed — based on the result of the Nebraska-Iowa game that is in the second half at the time of posting of this article. The Spartans will play on Friday evening regardless of seed.

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/msu-basketball-battles-falls-rival-230246446.html

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Publish date : 2026-03-08 23:02:00

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