ANN ARBOR, Mich. – No. 3-ranked Michigan Wolverines (29-2, 119-1 Big Ten) make history following their home victory against No. 8-ranked Michigan State Spartans (25-6, 15-5 Big Ten) during Senior Night in a Maize Out at Crisler Center.
Following their 90-80 victory, Michigan ended the regular season with 15 straight Big Ten wins and finished conference play 19-1, a mark that set a school record for Big Ten wins in a season.
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Fans were asked to #GoBlueWearMaize for the Maize Out and to join the Wolverines for a postgame celebration honoring the team’s seniors and student managers.
After the game, the program also marked its 2026 Big Ten championship in Ann Arbor.
The Wolverines went 11-0 overall on the road and improved to 10-0 in Big Ten road games this season.
Lendeborg led all scorers with 27 points while shooting 8-12 from the field, 5-6 from three, and 6-6 from the charity stripe.
Kohler led MSU with 23 points while shooting 10-13 from the field.
1st half
The Michigan Wolverines won the tip, but Elliot Cadeau shot an airball that went out of bounds.
Carson Cooper finished a lob from Jeremy Fears Jr. for the first two points of the game.
Fears came back with a three-pointer to take a 5-0 lead.
Nimari Burnett broke the cold streak with a three-pointer after nearly four minutes of play before Cooper responded with two points of his own as the Michigan State Spartans took a 7-3 lead.
Yaxel Lendeborg was sent to the line for the first time between the teams at 16:01, as Jaxon Kohler was called for his first foul of the game.
Lendeborg found a cutting Morez Johnson Jr., who drew a foul on Cam Ward before an official’s timeout with 15:28 to play.
After the timeout, Johnson Jr. stepped to the line and made both to tie the game at 7-7.
Burnett got a defensive rebound and kicked it to Lendeborg before Cadeau drew a second foul on Ward.
Jesse McCulloch got called for an offensive foul before Lendeborg drained a three-pointer to take a 10-7 lead.
Aday Mara was called for an offensive foul before Cadeau was called for a foul on defense.
Fears Jr. and Cadeau got tangled up, prompting Dusty May to challenge the foul, and Tom Izzo protested after the replay showed the MSU guard kicking the Michigan guard below the belt.
After the replay, fans chanted f*** you Fears as he called for a technical foul, sending Lendeborg to the line for two free throws.
The foul was overturned, giving Fears Jr. his first foul of the game.
Lendeborg went to the line and drained both to put the Wolverines up 12-7 with the ball with 14:24 to play.
Trey McKenney entered the game and turned the ball over.
Roddy Gayle Jr. made a contested lay-up to go up seven before Mara got called for a technical foul for fouling a Spartan player after the play, sending Fears Jr. to the line, where he made both, cutting the deficit to five.
The foul was Mara’s sedonc of the half.
Cooper got an offensive rebound and a put-back for his sixth point of the game.
Denham Wojcik got called for a foul on Gayle Jr., and the officials took a timeout with 11:57 to play.
Gayle Jr. stepped to the line for a one-in-one, making the first and the second to take a 16-11 lead.
Will Tschetter entered the game and got called for a foul.
Cooper made a monster dunk for his eighth point of the game.
Fears Jr. turned the ball over, leading to a fastbreak layup, taking an 18-13 lead.
The officials reviewed the following play because it appeared McKenney touched the ball before Kohler was able to put the ball in play.
Fears Jr. went to the line for a free throw after McKenney got called for a Class B technical foul.
The free throw was good, as MSU cut the deficit to four.
Lendeborg drained a three-pointer to extend the lead to seven with under 10 minutes to play.
After a defensive rebound, Gayle Jr. went coast-to-coast before Kohler made his first bucket of the game.
Kohler made an and-one before Fears Jr. stopped mid-run in front of Johnson Jr. to draw a foul.
An official’s timeout was called with 7:49 to play.
May challenged the previous play, which was called a jump ball because they couldn’t tell who it went off of before going out of bounds.
The play was overturned, and Michigan retained its timeout, leading 23-19.
Coen Carr got called for his first foul of the game while trying to box out Johnson Jr.
Johnson Jr. went to the line for a one-in-one and made the first and the second to put Michigan up six.
Kur Teng made a three-pointer before Lendeborg hit a contested floater.
Kohler hit a jumper before Teng hit another three-pointer to tie the game.
Johnson Jr. hit a three-pointer to take a 30-27 lead.
Johnson Jr. got called for his second foul of the half, putting MSU in the bonus, sending Cooper to the line for a one-in-one, making the first and missing the second.
Lendeborg hit another three-pointer before Gayle Jr. got called for a foul on Fears Jr., who flopped on the play.
Fears Jr. went to the line and split the pair.
Burnett made a fast break layup before Fears Jr. found Cooper, who made a dunk to cut the deficit back to four.
An official’s timeout was called with 3:34 to play.
Cooper had 11 points in the first half while Lendeborg had 15 with 3:34 to play.
Carr got on the board with a contested layup before Lendeborg drew a third foul on Ward with 3:06 to play, sending him to the line for two.
Lendeborg made both to push the lead back to four.
Fears Jr. drained a wide-open three to cut the deficit to one before Cadeau turned the ball over on the next possession.
MSU took the lead following a Kohler jump hook.
Jordan Scott blocked Burnett’s lay-up attempt as Mara and Johnson Jr. sat on the bench in foul trouble.
Kohler drained a three-pointer to push the lead to four.
Lendeborg made Carr fall before driving the lane for a contested floater to cut the deficit to 41-39.
He then found Burnett in the corner for an uncontested three-pointer to end the half with a 42-41 lead.
Lendeborg had 19 points in the first half, but Kohler led MSU with 12, followed by Cooper’s 11 and Fears’ 10 in the first half.
The lack of Mara and Johnson Jr. in the first half had the matchup close as the Spartans pounded the rock inside to stay in the game, overtaking the once seven-point deficit and turning it into a four-point lead before Michigan went on a 5-0 run before the half.
2nd half
Michigan got the ball to open the half and fed it to Johnson Jr., who made a contested jumper to put the men in maize up three.
MSU opened the half with a turnover.
Kohler got the Spartans back on track with a contested jumphook.
Mara hit a sick spin move and a monster slam before causing a turnover on the other end.
Lendeborg drained a three-pointer before Scott leaked out for an easy layup.
Cadeau turned the ball over, leading to a Kohler bucket.
Lendeborg got a huge block, leading to a Johnson Jr. contested layup.
Mara got stripped by Fears Jr., then got called for his third foul of the game with 15:39 to play.
The referees went to review the play, which was upgraded to a flagrant one.
Fears Jr. made both free throws as MSU retained the ball, while cutting the deficit to two.
Kohler tied the game with a fade-away jumper.
Johnson Jr. made a monster put-back jam to retake the lead.
Fears Jr. flopped after attacking the basket on Lendeborg, his first of the game.
The MSU guard tied the game after the free throws.
Kohler drained a three-pointer to take the lead before a monster baseline jam by Lendeborg.
Carr cameback and duked on Lendeborg as they met at the rim to take a 58-55 lead.
Cadeau drew a foul on Teng, his second of the game.
McKenney took Fears Jr. down low for a fadeaway before Cooper made a three-point play to take a four-point lead.
Mara found a cutting Gayle Jr. for a contested layup.
Cadeau blocked Teng, who drew a foul while grabbing the deflection on Gayle Jr.
Scott stepped out of bounds for the third turnover of the half for MSU.
Cadeau tied the game at 61 with a tough push shot.
Wojcik threw a bad lob to Carr, which eventually ended up going out of bounds.
An official’s timeout was called with 11:01 to play.
Gayle Jr. made a contested floater over Carr out of the timeout to retake the lead.
MSU turned the ball over, Fears Jr. made a great defensive stop on a lob attempt, but the ball got deflected to Mara, who found McKenney for a big three-pointer to extend the lead to five.
McKenney drew a foul on the next possession, making both free throws as Michigan went up 68-61.
Fears Jr. found Cooper for an alley-op and-one to quiet the crowd.
McKenney added to his personal run, draining a three-pointer for his eighth straight point and his 12th of the game.
Carr made a monster jam before McKenney fouled Fears Jr. with 6:59 to play as Michigan led 71-66 before another official’s timeout.
After the timeout, Fears Jr. went to the line for a one-in-one and missed.
Fears Jr. drove the basket and flopped again, drawing a foul on Cadeau, his second of the game.
He went to the line and made both to cut the deficit to three with under 6:30 to play.
Johnson Jr. got fouled on a contested attempt at the rim, making the shot but missing the free throw.
A defensive stop by Michigan led to another turnover and a foul on MSU.
MSU got a turnover on the other end with under five to play before Fears Jr. traveled.
Fears Jr. got called for a foul, MSU’s sixth of the half.
He hit a contested jumper to cut the deficit back to three with under four to play.
Lendeborg, having the game of his life, drained a three-pointer with 3:27 to play, as Michigan took a 76-70 lead on Senior Night.
He was two points away from his season high as he got the fans involved ahead of the timeout.
He was 5-6 from deep in the rivalry game with more time to play, while shooting 8-12 from the field.
MSU got the ball out of the timeout, and Fears Jr. drained a jumper to cut the deficit to four.
Timeout with 2:39 to play.
Lendeborg found Johnson Jr. for a contested lob to push the lead to six.
Mara grabbed a defensive rebound and threw a full-court pass to a sprinting Johnson Jr., who got fouled by Fears Jr., splitting the pair.
Michigan got the ball, leading 79-72 with 2:02 to play.
MSU got a turnover, and Cadeau tipped a contested three-pointer on Teng, leading to a technical foul, sending Mara to the line, making both as Michigan took a nine-point lead with 1:12 to play.
A hustle play by Gayle Jr. with 54 seconds to play led to a foul and chants of “Little brother” before the one-in-one attempt, making both to take an 11-point lead.
Fears Jr. found Cooper for the lob and timeout with 50.3 to play.
Gayle Jr. got fouled on the inbounds and split the pair, before Fears Jr. made a layup to cut the deficit to eight with 35.1 to play.
Tschetter got fouled and sent to the line for two, making both to push the deficit to 10.
Kohler made a putback to cut the deficit to eight with 29 seconds to play.
Burnett got fouled on the inbounds play, sending him to the line for two.
He made both to push the lead back to 10.
Tschetter got called for a foul on Teng, sending him to the line for three with 23.3 to play.
He missed the first, but made the next two.
Gayle Jr. got sent to the line for two more free throws to end the game, winning 90-80.
Rematch
Michigan leads the all-time series with Michigan State 106-92, and holds a 66-33 record in Ann Arbor.
The Wolverines beat Michigan State 83-71 at the Breslin Center on Jan. 30, leading in the game for nearly 37 minutes.
Potential Big Ten Player of the Year Yaxel Lendeborg had 26 points and 12 rebounds, and Elliot Cadeau hit a late 3 to help seal the win.
The men in maize have produced a season of lopsided victories: 23 wins by 10 or more points, 13 by 20 or more, 10 by 30 or more, seven by 40 or more (a Big Ten single-season record), and one by 50 or more points.
History
Head coach Dusty May and his Wolverines finished the regular season undefeated in true road games for the first time since joining the Big Ten in 1917.
Michigan’s 19th conference win is the most in the Big Ten all-time, breaking the 1974-75 Indiana Hoosiers record during the 18-game era.
Since moving to a 20-game schedule during the 2018-2019 season, the Wisconsin Badgers (2021-22), the Illinois Fighting Illini (2021-22), and the Purdue Boilermakers (2022-23) have all finished with an 18-2 record.