Michigan Basketball: Grading win vs Spartans, looking ahead to rematch
What to expect in the rematch
In his press conference after the win over Michigan State, Juwan Howard was asked if the game on Sunday matters and this was his response:
While Michigan has the regular-season Big Ten title in hand, the Wolverines aren't done yet.
— TheWolverine.com (@TheWolverineOn3) March 5, 2021
"Sunday DOES matter. ... The season's not over. Our goal is to be the last team standing on the first week of April." pic.twitter.com/ilm7iS1u2i
There is no way in any universe that Michigan basketball doesn’t want to beat Michigan State on Sunday. The Wolverines have already clinched the Big Ten title and MSU is still fighting for its NCAA tournament life.
The Spartans desperately need to win and will be at home. The issue for Michigan State is that it just doesn’t match up well with the Wolverines. The Spartans don’t have anyone who can guard Hunter Dickinson and Michigan didn’t even shoot the ball well the other night.
Michigan State also had a tough time scoring. Aaron Henry got 14 points but no one else was able to get things going. MSU only got nine 3-point attempts and if something similar happens Sunday, this will be another double-digit win.
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Michigan State is capable of an upset. You can never underestimate Tom Izzo and MSU is going to make some perimeter shots this game. But it feels like the Spartans need to get really hot from deep to pull off this win and it’s hard to see that happening.