EAST LANSING, Mich. – The No. 3-ranked Michigan Wolverines men’s basketball team (20-1, 10-1 Big Ten) traveled to East Lansing and took down the No. 7-ranked Michigan State Spartans (19-3, 9-2 Big Ten) 83-71 inside the Breslin Center, spoiling the birthday celebration of Tom Izzo.
The victory snapped a four-game losing streak vs. Michigan State, who had previously won seven out of the last 10 matchups, and it was the Wolverines’ first victory inside the Breslin Center since Jan. 13, 2018, taking an 82-72 victory.
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Michigan leads the all-time series 105-92, and Friday’s (Jan. 30) victory was its fourth in East Lansing in their last 26 games at the Breslin Center.
The in-state rivalry has been intense when both teams are ranked, with the Wolverines trailing 7-12 in those 19 games.
This year’s meeting was the fifth time the rivals have faced off as top-10 teams and is the highest-ranked matchup in program history for both.
Jeremy Fears Jr. led all scorers with 31, while Yaxel Lendeborg had a double-double in the victory, dropping 26 points while grabbing 13 rebounds.
But the player of the game was Elliot Cadeau, as his timely plays and personal 5-0 run in crunch time carried the men in maize to the victory.
Cadeau finished with 17 points six assists and and three rebounds including a pivotal one at in the games waining moments.
1st half
Michigan won the tip, and Morez Johnson Jr. shot an airball, leading to a Jeremy Fears Jr. bait foul on Aday Mara.
Mara got Michigan on the board with a contested bucket down low before Divine Ugochukwu found Carson Cooper for an alley oopp.
Elliot Cadeau put Michigan up two with a crossover and finish at the rim.
Yaxel Lendeborg knocked down a three-pointer as the Wolverines took a 7-2 lead.
Lendeborg got blocked by Coen Carr at the rim and then almost saved the ball, but it went out of bounds.
Fears Jr. turned the ball over early, followed by Roddy Gayle Jr., as both teams had one early in the game.
Following a timeout, Mara’s second foul was on Nimari Burnett.
Cadeau hit a three-pointer to take a 10-2 lead.
Fears Jr. found Jaxon Kohler for a three-pointer as MSU cut the deficit to 10-5.
Lendeborg got hammered at the rim and went to the line and split the pair to take an 11-5 lead.
Mara returned to the game with the receded foul with 14:27 to play.
Kohler shot an airball, but L.J. Cason picked up a foul on the defensive rebound.
Mara got a block on defense and then got a contested bucket on offense as Michigan took a 13-5 lead.
Gaylr Jr. drew a foul on Fears Jr., who got caught napping on defense as birthday boy Tom Izzo complained to the refs.
Mara made another contested bunny as Michigan took a 15-5 lead with 12:10 to play.
Tough defense by Trey McKinney led the Spartans to their fifth turnover of the game as an official’s timeout was called at the 11:34 mark of the first half.
The 10-point lead was due to the early dominance of Mara, who led all scorers with six points.
Mara turned the ball over, leading to another Fears Jr. bait foul, this time on McKenney.
The Spartans was 16% before Fears Jr. scored his first bucket of the game, but McKenney drained a three-pointer to take an 18-7 lead.
Following a Carr miss, Will Tschetter got called for an offensive foul on Fears Jr.
Cadeau drew an offensive foul on Cooper as Michigan State picked up its sixth turnover of the game.
Izzo, 71, was complaining to the refs as Michigan drew another foul on MSU.
Cadeau found Johnson Jr. for an easy layup before Fears Jr. drew another foul, this one an and-one attempt as he got Cadeau for his first foul.
The free throw was good, as the men in maize led 20-10 with under 9 to play.
Sparts turned the ball over for the seventh time in the game.
An officials timeout was called with 7:44 to play.
Dusty May spoke out of the timeout, saying the Wolverines played team ball to force seven turnovers with 7:44 to play in the half.
After another Mara turnover, Jordan Scott drained a three to cut the deficit to seven.
Johnson Jr. blocked Scott’s three-pointer, leading to a rim run from Mara to Johnson Jr. for a jam.
Fears Jr. made a contested floater to cut the deficit back to seven.
Lendeborg got called for a foul, sending Jesse McCulloch to the line to cut the deficit to five as the crowd got back into the game.
Spartans went on a 10-2 run before Lendeborg made a contested jumper.
Mara picked up his second foul as Fears stopped in front of Mara to pick up his second foul.
Fears Jr. went to the line on a one-and-one, making both as MSU cut the deficit to 24-19 with under five to play.
Cadeau was left wide open for a three-pointer to put Michigan back up eight before the Spartans turned the ball over due to a shot-clock violation.
The violation was the Spartans eighth of the half.
McKenney took his defender down low for the Michael Jordan fadeaway as Michigan went back up 10.
Gayle Jr. got called for a foul with four seconds left on the shot clock, sending Fears Jr. back to the line.
Fears Jr. made both to cut the deficit to 29-21.
Cam Ward got a defensive rebound, but traveled.
Cason missed the wide-open three-pointer, leading to a Lendeborg foul, his second of the game.
A coach’s appeal for a hook-and-hold on Ward, battling for the rebound against Lendeborg, was called by May.
After the review, officials ruled that, with 2:29 to play in the half and Michigan leading 29-21, the foul was overturned, sending Lendeborg to the line.
Lendeborg drained both and then got fouled for an and-one as he made a contested layup, followed by the free-throw.
Johnson Jr. got the block on the other end, followed by a McKenney three-pointer as Michigan took a37-21 lead with 1:58 to play as Izzo called a timeout.
Out of the timeout, Johnson Jr. got called for a foul on Fears Jr.
Fears Jr. split the pair, but MSU got the rebound and turned the ball over for the 11th time of the game.
Gayle Jr. made a contested jumper before Lendeborg got fouled on a rim-run by Fears Jr., who got called for a flagrant-one.
Lendeborg split the pair, followed by a Carr fast-break dunk attempt, but got fouled by Johnson Jr., picking up his second of the half.
Carr made both as the deficit was cut to 40-24.
Tschetter drew a foul on a three-point shot, sending him to the line for two shots as the Spartans fans yelled out expletives.
He went to the line and hit both to take a 42-24 lead with 07.9 to play in the half.
Carr got a dunk to end the half as Michigan led by 16 at the half.
May looked to have his team battle-tested in the first half, as they played stifling defense against the Spartans, to the dismay of the fans in attendance.
Collegiate basketball is a 40-minute game, and both teams are battle-tested despite the deficit.
2nd half
Carr opened the second half with a contested jumper, followed by a dunk after a turnover by Michigan.
He was on a 6-0 run as the deficit was cut to 12.
Fears Jr. drew a foul on a jumper.
The foul was on Cadeau, as Fears Jr. made both to cut the deficit to 10.
Mara made an easy bucket to go back up 12 before Lendeborg blocked Fears Jr., leading to a dunk.
Cooper followed suit with a dunk of his own.
Carr got fouled at the rim by Lendeborg during a dunk attempt, sending him to the line.
He made both to cut the lead back to 10.
Fears Jr. got the steal and made an and-one over Lendeborg, who got his third foul of the game on the block attempt.
He made the free throw as the lead was cut to seven.
Michigan turned the ball over again, that time for their eighth of the game.
Fears Jr. made another lay-up as they went on a 15-4 run to open the second half, as the lead was cut to 46-41, leading to an officials timeout with 15:07 to play.
The once 18-point lead was cut to five quickly as Michigan came out flat to open the half.
With Lendeborg picking up two quick fouls, the Wolverines turned the ball over multiple times in the game, and a timeout was needed to get them back on track.
McKenney knocked down a contested jumper to quiet the crowd.
MSU turned the ball over as Michigan led 48-41.
Fears Jr. baited Johnson Jr. into his third foul of the game.
Kohler got goaltended by Cadeau as Michigan led by five with under 14 to play.
Mara drew a foul on Fears Jr., his third of the game.
The Spartans went on a 29-13 run to tie the game in the second half.
Fears Jr. had 21 points and six assists with under eight to play. But he had three fouls.
Tschetter missed a three-point attempt, leading to a Fears Jr. fast-break layup to take their first lead of the game.
Lendeborg was fouled and sent to the line, tying the game at 57.
Scott drove to the basket to take the lead, but Tschetter made a huge three-pointer to take a 60-59 lead with 6:27 to play as an official’s timeout was called.
Gayle Jr. turned the ball over.
Kohler made a contested jumper to cut the deficit to three before Mara got fouled at the basket.
Ugochukwu got called for a foul on Cadeau, sending him to the line for three; he made the first, missed the second, and made the third as Michigan went back up five.
Mara got back-to-black blocks as the MSU player fell out of bounds.
Cooper was called for his third foul of the game, the Spartans’ fourth team foul.
McKenney shot an airball and got called for his second foul during the play.
The play was called a flagrant as he pulled the defender down to the ground.
MSU got two shots and the ball as a result of the play.
Scott made both on the pivotal play as the lead was cut to three as MSU got the ball down by three.
Mara got up a shot but bricked, as Lendeborg got the put-back to go back up five.
Scott drew an and-one on McKenney, who picked up his third foul.
MSU cut the deficit to 52-50 with under 11 to play.
Michigan turned the ball over, looking rattled.
The turnover was their eighth of the second half and their 12th of the game.
Scott got called for his second foul as Gayle Jr. got hacked on the defensive rebound.
Cason drained an open three to put Michigan back up five.
Fears Jr. made a pull-up jumper to cut the deficit to three.
The Wolverines’ offense was out of rhythm, shooting 34% in the half with 8:17 to play.
Kohler made a three-pointer to tie the game at 55-554 with 7:38 to play.
Michigan had nine turnovers in the second half, while the Spartans had two with under six to play.
Cadeau drove to the lane and found Johnson Jr., who got hacked at the rim.
He went to the line and made both as Michigan took a 62-59 lead with 5:50 to play.
Carr drove to the lane and drew a foul on Tschetter, his second of the game.
At the line, Carr missed both as Lendeborg got his 11th rebound of the game.
Kohler got fouled by Cadeau down low, sending him to the line for two.
He made both to cut the deficit to 62-61.
Cadeau made a tough shot to put Michigan back up three.
Cooper converted an alley opp to cut the lead back to one.
Johnson Jr. made a nasty dunk to go back up three.
Fears Jr. missed a lay-up and got his own rebound, but Michigan got the ball back, leading to a Cadeau three-pointer as Michigan took a six-point lead with 3:05 to play in the game.
That quick 5-0 run by Cadeau gave the men in maize some breathing room as an officials timeout was called.
Fears Jr. initiated contact with 2:48 to play.
Johnson Jr. got called for his fourth foul of the game.
Fears Jr. made both for his 25th point of the game.
Lendeborg made a layup to go back up six before Cooper turned the ball over.
Johnson Jr. made a contested layup to take a 73-65 lead with 1:09 to play.
Cadeau took over in the second half as he attacked the glass to get a defensive rebound while calling a timeout.
Cadeau inbound the pass to Lendeborg, who got fouled by Carr, sending him to the line on a one-in-one, making the first and the second to get back up 10 with 1:07 to play.
Fears Jr. made a three-pointer with 54.5 to play as Michigan called a timeout with a seven-point lead.
Johnson Jr. got fouled on the inbounds play and was sent to the line, leading 75-68.
He made both to take a nine-point lead.
Fears Jr. missed a contested layup attempt, leading to a Cadeau fast-break attempt before getting fouled.
With 44 seconds to play, Cadeau stepped to the line and made both to take an 11-point lead.
Fears Jr. got fouled and sent to the line, missing the first and making the second.
Lendeborg was pushed out of bounds by Fears Jr., resulting in a technical foul against Izzo.
He made both as Michigan took an 11-point lead with the ball.
Lendeborg made two more freethrows to take a 13-point lead.
Fears Jr. made a bunny for his 30th point of the game.