Previewing Michigan basketball’s rivalry matchup against Michigan State

Tuesday, the Wolverines are set to play their third straight home game when the Michigan State Spartans come to Ann Arbor. This matchup was initially scheduled for the beginning of March, however was postponed due to covid issues for Michigan Basketball.

After alternating wins and losses in their past six games, the Wolverines need to get a winning streak going in order to secure their spot in the NCAA tournament.

The Spartans snapped a three-game losing streak last week when they took on the Purdue Boilermakers at home, and are likely looking for a winning streak of their own. Here is what to know before Michigan Basketball‘s second matchup of the season against Michigan State.

Breaking down Michigan vs Michigan State

In their down-to-the-wire win against Purdue on Saturday, the Spartans were able to break the tie and win the game with three seconds left when junior guard Tyson Walker knocked down a 3-point shot.

The main area where the Spartans struggled against the Boilermakers was the same area they lead the conference in– free throw shooting. Michigan State averages 75.6 percent from the line, yet only made 50 percent of their free throws against the Boilermakers, tied for their season-low.

This poor free throw shooting kept the game close, however, the Spartans shot 45 percent from three, whereas Purdue shot a season-low 11 percent. The Boilermakers simply could not make a shot from beyond the arc in the second half, causing their final lead of the game to be with eight minutes left in the first half.

The Wolverines had a similar 3-point shooting problem in their previous matchup against Michigan State, shooting only 15.8 percent from beyond the arc whereas the Spartans shot 50 percent from three. Michigan had a rough time shooting the ball in general in East Lansing, with a 37.1 percent field goal percentage.

Michigan State had their best field goal percentage of the season in their first matchup against the Wolverines, shooting 55.4 percent. That being said, no player scored above 20 points as 10 players contributed to the Spartans’ 83 points.

Michigan State has an extremely deep and effective bench, averaging 27.6 bench points per game. Different players aid in the Spartans’ scoring success each game, however, this results in individual players not having a very large number of points per game.

Senior forward Gabe Brown who averages 11.4 points per game is the only Michigan State player to average at least 10 points per game.

Brown went scoreless in two of his last five games and only scored in double digits in one of the other three. Nonetheless, he leads the team in free throw shooting, averaging 91.4 percent from the line and only missing one free throw in conference play.

Alongside multiple Spartans dividing up points scored each game, Tom Izzo also allows for a large number of players to receive significant playing time. Freshman guard Max Christie is the sole Michigan State player to average at least 30 minutes per game. Many of the players on the Spartan bench average more minutes per game than some of their starters, most notably junior forward Malik Hall who averages 22.3 minutes per game.

Although Hall did start for Michigan State against Purdue, this was his first start in conference play.  Hall only scored two points against the Boilermakers, however, scored 17 points off the bench the game before. While he is an electric player and vital to the Spartans’ success, it is unclear if Hall can produce the same numbers in the starting lineup.

On the defensive side of the ball, Michigan State leads the conference in blocks with 5.36 per game. They had six blocks against Michigan basketball in their previous matchup this season — four of which came from Spartans senior forward Marcus Bingham Jr. Bingham was able to block two of sophomore center Hunter Dickinsons’ shots, however, Dickinson still went on to score 25 points against the Michigan State defense.

It is imperative that Dickinson plays with the same momentum that he played in his previous game against the Spartans if the Wolverines want any chance of winning this rivalry matchup. Freshman forward Caleb Houstan has scored 21 points in each of his past two games, which is hopefully a sign that he has found his scoring consistency.

Michigan Basketball will only have two more regular-season games after their matchup with Michigan State. After significant inconsistencies throughout every game, it is time for the Wolverines to put their best foot forward and end the season on a three-game win streak.