Michigan basketball sweep of MSU cranks up heat in rivalry

For many on the Michigan basketball side of things this season, this was completely new.

The Wolverines’ four leading scorers − Yaxel Lendeborg, Morez Johnson Jr., Aday Mara and Elliot Cadaeu − were all in their first year of the rivalry between U-M and Michigan State basketball. Coach Dusty May was in his second, but even after a long sojurn in Big Ten country – an Indiana native and alumnus, he also coached in Washtenaw County with Eastern Michigan – he didn’t truly grasp the importance of this series until he was on the wrong end of it in his first exposure, last season

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“I didn’t know how big this rivalry was,” May said while wearing a “Big Ten Champions” hat and T-shirt in his postgame press conference Sunday, March 8. “I thought last year, when they swept us, they battled and they earned it. That’s what I said last year, they kicked our butt, they made us better.

“They made us elevate our play and our preparation, our summer workouts because we knew we weren’t going to be able to do what we were doing and get over the hump”

Michigan and Michigan State player battle for the ball during the first half at Crisler Center in Ann Arbor on Sunday, March 8, 2026.

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The unfamiliarity with the rivalry was even greater for Lendeborg, arriving from UAB over the summer. He didn’t have years of MSU disdain like some of the longer tenured Wolverines such as Nimari Burnett, Roddy Gayle Jr. and Will Tschetter.

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And yet, it didn’t take long for Lendeborg to realize what it’s all about. The likely Big Ten player of the year had two of his best games all season in the two meetings, delivering a sequel to Jan. 30’s 26-point, 12-rebound performance with a game high 27 points on Sunday in the Wolverines’ 90-80 victory.

“These guys always talk to me about how much hatred they have for Michigan State and how big this rivalry is,” Lendeborg said on the court, after he cut down a piece of the Crisler…

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Publish date : 2026-03-09 09:12:00

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