Michigan started of with great looks against Michigan State but couldn’t make shots, allowing MSU to hang around. The Wolverines got a spark from junior Isaiah Livers’ return and played well defensively early, then turned it up in the second half to win 77-68.
Livers finally got U-M on track with a triple at 14 minutes, putting the Wolverines up 6-3. The Wolverines worked the offensive glass for second-chance opportunities and notched five offensive rebounds in the first nine minutes — one of them led to a corner triple from junior Brandon Johns, making it 9-3.
MSU’s Cassius Winston was held without a shot and managed two rebounds and two turnovers in his first seven minutes.
U-M went up 12-3 on a David DeJulius triple, and the sophomore made it 14-7 with a runner off the glass. The Wolverines were careless with the ball, however, turning it over six times in the first 12 minutes to allow the Spartans to hang around. MSU started working the offensive glass and cut it to 14-11 on a pair of putbacks from big man Xavier Tillman.
Michigan made a run of its own. Senior point guard Zavier Simpson made a pair of triples to push the lead back to nine, 22-13, at the six-minute mark. Another Livers triple gave U-M its biggest lead, 25-15.
Winston finally scored his first two points at 3:55 to cut the lead to eight.
The Wolverines went back up 10 on redshirt junior Austin Davis’ finish, but both Simpson and Brooks both picked up their second fouls late in the first half. U-M had a chance to hold for the last shot and go up 11, but DeJulius missed a wide open triple and Livers’ dumb foul with 1.9 seconds remaining gave Kyle Ahrens two free throws to cut it to 29-23.
Tillman’s steal of a poor inbounds pass nearly resulted in a four-point deficit, but he missed a short jumper.
Michigan’s shooting struggles continued in a 32.3-percent half, but the Wolverines made seven of 17 triples (41.2 percent). MSU was only down six despite making seven of 27 shots.
Simpson led Michigan with nine points, Livers added eight and DeJulius seven for the Wolverines. Senior center Jon Teske notched zero points and no rebounds in the first half. Michigan State was 0-for-5 on three-point shots.
SECOND HALF
The Spartans opened the scoring on two Aaron Henry free throws on a questionable call on freshman Franz Wagner. Teske was stripped twice at the rim, and Winston cut it to 31-27 after a Livers lay-in when Wagner fouled him behind the three-point line, making all three free throws.
Livers picked up his third foul early on a questionable charge call, but the Wolverines went back up four when Wagner finished, and-one, with 16:41 remaining in the second half.
The two teams started to heat up. Brooks’ triple pushed the lead back to four, but Winston nailed a long three-pointer from the top of the key to answer. Simpson, meanwhile, missed two long ones.
U-M continued to answer each time MSU got close. Brooks hit a couple of triples, his second one making it 44-40, and an alley-oop from Brooks to Teske for a thunderous, one-handed finish made it 46-40 and forced an MSU timeout at 12:46.
Michigan went up 50-42 on buckets from Davis and Wagner inside, taking the lead into the second TV timeout at 11:10.
DeJulius' second triple gave the Wolverines a nine-point edge halfway through the second half.
The two teams continued to pick it up offensively. The Spartans cut it to six three different times, but each time the Wolverines had an answer. Brooks, Johns and Simpson each hit key free throws down the stretch to give U-M the win.
Simpson led four Michigan players in double figures with 16 points. Livers added 14, Brooks 11 and DeJulius 10. U-M improved to 5-7 in Big Ten play with the win.
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