Everything Juwan Howard said after Michigan's emotional victory over MSU

Michigan basketball scored 51 points in the second half as it knocked off the visiting Michigan State Spartans at the Crisler Center on Saturday night. Dug McDaniel scored a career-high 18 points, and four other Wolverines finished in double figures in the victory.

Here is everything Michigan head coach Juwan Howard had to say after the game.

"It was very classy of the University of Michigan to really show how much we as a community care about the Michigan State community during such a tragic loss for those young men and young women. Also to those who are fighting to get healthy. There were others that were shot during that time. I was looking over at coach Izzo, seeing how emotional he got during "Lift Every Voice And Sing," I started to get a little emotional myself.

Because I understand that it really hit close to home for him and some of his players. I agree with them, this weekend, as far as playing a game, does help get to a little normalcy and try to take your mind off of what they suffered this week.

Overall, I really admired how our players were very considerate and kind. As you can see with the shirts that we wore... and Michigan State flags, as well as their school song, I think that was really meaningful, and it doesn't surprise me of how people here at the University of Michigan have a big heart, and really cares about others.

"Well, from start to finish... Dug was, with his energy on the defensive end and then offensively, he makes some tough shots and he also allowed the game to come to him. And I'm not saying he hasn't before, but when he set the tone the way he did, the guys really rallied behind Dug. Little guy flying around, energy from the bench, guys like Tarris Reed Jr., as well as Joey Baker, Jace Howard those guys were really dialed in to compete.

That was a point of emphasis about how we gave up 14 offensive rebounds to Wisconsin. That should never happen. Nothing against Wisconsin... it was based on they wanted it more than we did. Even though defensively we work so hard on the defensive end, and for them shooting 33% from the field and still giving them 14 extra possessions, it's tough to win ball games like that on the road.

Tonight we made the conscious effort of being the toughest, nastiest, the grittiest by going to the glass, by tapping the paint, by getting fouled and going to the foul line. I give a lot of credit to our young men as far as how in tune they were from the first day of practice when we returned from Wisconsin... we were so locked in these last couple days, you want to get results like that in ballgames.

I talked about it in the timeout. I'm not quite sure what the clock was, but I think Michigan State was down by three, and we talked about 'it's not a time to play a perfect game, be afraid to make mistakes,' because in the game of basketball you're going to make mistakes but how we limited the mistakes is about making the simple plays.

And then, at the defensive end, we have to be tuned into what our defensive coverages are, being tuned in, keeping guys in front and then also limiting them to one-shot opportunities... I wanted to make sure that I calmed their voice, I calmed their minds on understanding that whatever happens in the past, you go from it.

Well it's something that I've seen throughout the season when I first played the big lineup. Tarris is, he's scratching the surface. His defensive intensity, able to, of course, keep smaller guards in front, which is hard to do at that size but he's just so dialed into giving life to the group whether it's, if he does get beat off the dribble, able to recover and meet a guy at the rim.

Whether it's a blocked shot, or he's seeing one of his teammates have a mismatch opportunity, got to get back down to the low block, coming over from the help side and blocking a shot. Being active on the glass, whether it's going and getting in a crowded space or getting it over top where smaller guys try to box out a bigger guy.

But then also on the offensive end he was aggressive, being able to take advantage of how the defender was playing him, attacking the paint, and also getting up to the free throw line and being confident and being relaxed. He made some big free throws. I see the confidence is increasing, he's getting better. Sometimes we always expect freshmen to be able to play well all the time, but it takes time to grow with this game. I'm just so proud of him.

Versus a very good team in Michigan State and the Big Ten, playing a game at home, and a great home crowd, and that's one thing, too, I want to mention while I'm here. It was awesome to see Crisler rocking the way it was tonight.

The energy that came from the home crowd, and also to see some of our alumni that were able to be present. Got a chance to see Eli Brooks, Franz Wagner, Chaundee Brown Jr., some of the managers, I saw Trey Burke and Tim Hardaway Jr., it was nice to see those familiar faces that I haven't seen in a while.

That brotherhood here at the University of Michigan is something that we will continue to keep growing and making sure that everyone who puts on a Michigan uniform, they will always be a part and come out and see their younger brothers compete on the floor.

I miss the times when I was playing in the NBA, and I couldn't come because I was so busy, whether it was all-star break or just the NBA season the schedule didn't work out, and I always wanted to be here. But then I was coaching, and I always wanted to come back for one of the home games, and I just never got the opportunity. So we're always open-armed, welcome all of our guys who have put on a Michigan uniform to 'please come support these young Wolverines,' because these young Wolverines really enjoy seeing them.

Well this is not the first time I've had him out there to close games... he can be a huge confidence booster but it's not the first game I've left him out there. The big lineup with Tarris and Hunter, they are growing a lot together and they are now getting more and more comfortable playing with one another.

Defensively, with the big lineup, we got stops when we needed down the stretch. Scoring 51 points against Michigan State, who's one of the better defensive teams in our league, that's pretty impressive. It really shows the level of toughness, it also shows how we practiced this week, we had a really good carry over, so we're going to enjoy this victory tonight, and we'll be back in the gym on Monday, roll up our sleeves and try to continue getting better, day-by-day.

Michigan State and Michigan, once that ball goes up, jump ball, it's about the game. That's how it can be solved. And with Michigan State, look at it in the first half, they were winning 36-33, they made a huge run, they weren't thinking about anything that happened this week, they were so dialed into competing out there on the floor and trying to get this victory. That's the same mindset that our guys had, too, once the jump ball started.

I haven't heard anything yet. Just praying. We need him. We also need healthy Jett. One thing about Jett is he's a tough kid. He really is. I'll never forget when we were in London, he wasn't supposed to play versus Kentucky and he was going to make me play him. That shows you how much he's passionate about this game and love the game, and he's also, like I mentioned tough.

He couldn't play in the Purdue game, but he begged me to play him. He wasn't ready. And then he rushed back and played the second game, whoever we played after Purdue, I forgot, but we will look at it and see, he'll get treatment tonight, and he's going to treat it 24/7 like he always does.

That's called 'will.' And not Will Tschetter. It's having the will to go out there and make a play when we needed it. He made a 3 that was right there in front of our bench and as he was shooting it I was like 'please go in.' The basketball gods answered.

I didn't pay attention to all that. All I saw was maize and blue. I saw the Michigan State flag and that was because of the Maize Rage being so dialed in and in tune to showing the Michigan State community how much we support them. And like I said earlier, I heard in the song, Michigan State's fight song. I wasn't paying attention to all that. If I was paying attention to all that, I need to be dialed in and watching my team.

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