Michigan’s win Friday at Michigan State turned up the temperature on an already heated rivalry.
The third-ranked Wolverines beat the No. 7 Spartans 83-71 for their first win at the Breslin Center since 2018. Michigan State coach Tom Izzo picked up a technical foul late in the game and was visibly displeased with the officiating and his team’s performance.
Three days later, Michigan coach Dusty May was still unhappy about several plays in the game, including one sequence in which Michigan State point guard Jeremy Fears appeared to intentionally trip Michigan forward Yaxel Lendeborg.
“Appeared?” May said Monday. “It wasn’t an illusion. I think there were several plays that are very dangerous, and I am incredibly proud of our guys for the responses they had to some of those situations.”
On the play in question, Fears drove into the lane and kicked the ball to Jaxon Kohler in the corner. Fears extended his leg in front of Lendeborg, causing Lendeborg to stumble as he attempted to close out on Kohler’s 3-pointer.
Fears, who led Michigan State with 31 points, also received a flagrant foul for shoving Lendeborg from behind to prevent a breakaway dunk late in the first half.
“They’re not isolated incidents,” May said. “The film’s there. Forty minutes of them. It’s not hard to find.”
The Michigan-Michigan State rivalry is known for its acrimony. The football teams have had a series of scuffles in recent years, including a 2022 incident in the Michigan Stadium tunnel that resulted in criminal charges for several Spartans. The men’s basketball teams had to be separated late in last year’s matchup in East Lansing after Michigan State players took exception to two Wolverines standing on the Spartan logo at midcourt as the Spartans’ seniors checked out of the game on senior night.
Michigan has dominated the football rivalry of late, while the Spartans have had the upper hand in basketball. Entering Friday night, Michigan State had won 10 of the previous 14 meetings, including seven in a row in East Lansing. Michigan State swept the Wolverines last season en route to the Big Ten regular season title.
May said last year’s losses to Michigan State provided a lesson for the Wolverines, who advanced to the Sweet 16 but finished three games behind Michigan State in the conference standings.
“Last year, we just didn’t have enough dog to win the league,” May said. “We had some, and I love our guys last year, but we just didn’t have enough dog. We were able to solve that issue in recruiting.”
Michigan (20-1, 10-1 Big Ten) has four transfers in its starting lineup in Lendeborg, North Carolina transfer Elliot Cadeau, Illinois transfer Morez Johnson and UCLA transfer Aday Mara. May took exception to descriptions of Michigan’s players as “mercenaries,” a criticism that was part of the rivalry banter leading up to Friday’s game.
Izzo is selective in taking players from the transfer portal and has preferred to build his roster with players he signed as freshmen. The top four scorers on this year’s team are third- or fourth-year players who signed with Michigan State out of high school.
May is 47-11 at Michigan since taking over an 8-24 team two years ago. Michigan’s success is due in large part to transfers such as Vlad Goldin, Danny Wolf, Roddy Gayle and the four new starters on this year’s team.
“I know people outside of our tribe will call our guys these derogatory names, mercenaries or whatnot,” May said. “We have a group of guys that love playing with each other. They appreciate Michigan. When you see how connected they are, I don’t know how you would classify them as guys playing just for money. They all sacrificed a great deal of money to do what they’re doing together.”
Michigan is tied with Illinois for first place in the Big Ten standings, a game ahead of Michigan State and Nebraska, the two teams Michigan beat last week. Michigan and Michigan State will meet March 8 in Ann Arbor in the final game of the regular season.