East Lansing, Mich. — “Death,” that’s what Draymond Green said it would take for him to miss this Sunday’s match-up against the rivals and 22nd ranked Michigan Wolverines.
Many speculated would Draymond even play in potentially his last match-up against “those guys” after hurting his left knee against Illinois the game before. The senior answered that question today with one of his best performance against the Wolverines, scoring 14 points and grabbing 16 rebounds, more than the whole Michigan team could muster up the whole game.
“If he isn’t one of the most valuable guys in this league, than I don’t know who is,” Izzo said about his star senior.
The Spartans got their first win against the Wolverines after Michigan has beaten the Spartans in the past 3 games, ”The world is back in place,” said Draymond Green.
Michigan State looked like they wanted this win, not just for their seniors, but to put MSU basketball back to where it needs to be, and that is head and shoulders above that team from Ann Arbor.
Michigan freshman point guard Trey Burke had his way with Michigan State sophomore point guard Keith Appling in the first match-up between the two teams in Ann Arbor earlier this season, but the freshman did not find similar results in East Lansing this time around. ”We don’t really like for guys to score on us,” Appling said in response to a question about his defense on Trey Burke. Keith followed Trey Burke everywhere that he went. When Burke was on the perimeter, Appling was right there. When Burke drove, Appling was there. When Burke went to the bathroom, Appling was… Okay, you get the point, but the MSU starting point guard was in Burke’s face and held the freshman phenom to only 4 of 11 from the field with 11 points, 4 assists, and 4 turnovers.
Appling and Green lead MSU to a victory over rival U of M.
Keith was struggling from the field coming into the game this Sunday shooting 2 of 19 from the field against Illinois and Minnesota, but he seemed to be slowly getting back on track against Michigan going 3 of 5 for 10 points.
Someone else who was struggling offensively for the Spartans was senior transfer Brandon Wood, who is normally a starter, but came off of the bench in place of senior Austin Thornton. Wood scored a total of 3 points in the previous two games but came out of the Michigan game with 9 points on 3 of 7 shooting with 4 assists.
Tim Hardaway Jr. is undoubtedly the Wolverines best player, and he was shutdown by MSU freshman Branden Dawson. Hardaway Jr. went 1 of 10 from the field with only 4 points. Dawson, who has arguably been the Spartans best player on both ends of the floor in the past 3 games, made it his job to keep the Wolverines star player out of the game.
Zach Novack led the Wolverines in scoring with 14 points, as he did all he could to try and win his potentially last match-up against the rival Spartans.
The game started out slow, but quickly picked up in favor of the Michigan State Spartans. Adriane Payne converted on a lay-up assisted by Draymond Green with 8:23 left in the first half to put the Spartans up 19 to 9.
To close the half the Spartans were on a roll, as freshman Brandan Kearney hit a jumper to put the Spartans up 11 with 13 seconds left in the half.
Trey Burke followed the made shot by Kearney with a deep three ball in the face of Travis Trice to cut the lead to 8 as time expired in the first half.
Then to start the second half the Wolverines came out cold, not getting a basket until about the 15 minute mark when Jordan Morgan knocked down two free throws.
From their, the Spartans went on a 6 point run to stretch the lead to 16.
Michigan State had this game in control for the majority of the match-up and never let the Wolverines get uncomfortably close to tying the game or taking the lead.
“Our defense and our rebounding, which is the staple to every great program, is what kept us in the game,” said Tom Izzo.
Michigan State is 3rd in the country in rebounding margin, and against the Wolverines, the Spartans out-rebounded them 39 to 15.
The Spartans played with a tenacity that was lacking in the past game against Illinois. It seems as if the program is starting to find their identity again. Rebounding, defense, and lack of turnovers, is what has made Michigan State one of the best programs in college basketball in recent years, and it is something that has inconsistently been a part of their game. The Spartans are getting back to that gritty, hard-nose ball that has made them one of college basketball’s best teams in the 21st century.
