Michigan’s 70-64 loss to Michigan State may not have been all that meaningful in the grand scheme of things, but head coach Juwan Howard took it hard. He was beyond disappointed with his team’s play in its most physical test of the year, a “street fight” the likes of which we see more often than not when U-M travels to East Lansing.

MSU set the tone, bumping cutters, attacking the glass. U-M, frankly, looked much more white collar than Howard would have liked or expected, content with its Big Ten title and No. 1 seeds locked up.

Just a few weeks ago, Howard was giddy when his team was hitting the floor diving for loose balls, battling physically underneath and bodies were flying in a win over Ohio State.

There wasn’t much of that Sunday.