For the first time since February 2023, Michigan has beaten Michigan State, and for the first time since 2018, the Wolverines did it in East Lansing. Tom Izzo has dominated the in-state rivalry, but Dusty May finally got a pound of flesh on Friday night at the Breslin Center as No. 3 Michigan downed No. 7 Michigan State 83-71.
It wasn’t the cleanest game from May’s group, allowing the Spartans to chisel away a 16-point halftime lead to go in front with 7:27 left in the second half before punching back to close out the win. But Izzo, predictably, was even more unhappy with his team’s performance, and that of the referees.
“To say I’m disappointed would be an understatement. Give credit to Michigan, they played well — I guess,” Izzo said in his postgame press conference. “I was disappointed in the officiating but more disappointed in my team,” he said. “They made the plays.”
Tom Izzo on Michigan State’s loss: “To say I’m disappointed would be an understatement. Give credit to Michigan, they played well — I guess.”
— Brad Galli (@BradGalli) January 31, 2026
“I was disappointed in the officiating but more disappinted in my team,” he said. “They made the plays.” pic.twitter.com/Sow90M6WPs
Izzo wanted a rock fight but the officials wouldn’t give it to him
Of course, Izzo acknowledged his team’s poor play. The Spartans shot a brutal 4/23 from the three-point line and only 37 percent from the field. Michigan State also turned the ball over 14 times, one more than the Wolverines gave it away. Those stats alone make it odd that Izzo would even mention the officiating when his team had clear opportunities to win if they hit more shots and had an edge in the free-throw discrepancy.
There is more to officiating than simply the free-throw discrepancy, but typically, that’s where a gripe with the officials is going to start. Yet, Michigan State shot 27 free throws to Michigan’s 26.
What Izzo may have been upset about is the fact that there were that many free throws on either side. For Izzo’s entire tenure, Michigan State has dragged opponents into rock fights and beaten them with experience. If the referees don’t allow that level of physicality, it zaps the Spartans of their biggest advantage.
In a straight up game that wasn’t allowed to devolve into Izzo’s preferred fist-fight, Michigan established an 18-point lead and ultimately won by 12 on the road. Michigan is the better team, and Izzo’s comment about the officiating almost hints that he knows it, and how sweet that is for Michigan fans to hear.
The Wolverines just closed out a week with two top-10 wins and are inching back into the conversation for the No. 1 spot in the AP Poll with Arizona and UConn. But more importantly, May got his first win over Izzo and punched back in a rivalry that’s been all too one-sided in recent years.