ANN ARBOR — Michigan State came out on fire against Michigan, making eight of its first 11 shots and three of four triples, and won the first of two games in two weeks against their rivals.
U-M, meanwhile, was uncharacteristically sloppy, turing it over four times in the first eight minutes and playing poorly on defense.
MSU took the fight to U-M and a 22-17 lead on two Cassius Winston free throws at the 11:39 mark. They expanded it to 27-20 on a Kenny Goins triple, and the offense pace was frantic. The two teams were on track for 100 points at the 10-minute mark, a pace nobody would have imagined.
Something else unexpected — Zavier Simpson’s three-point shooting kept the Wolverines in it. He made a pair to match MSU’s, and frosh Ignas Brazdeikis’ three-pointer capped an 8-0 run that gave the Wolverines the lead back.
The pace finally slowed a bit, but only because the teams stopped making shots. The Spartans led 34-32 at the 3:19 mark after a Goins follow, but sophomore guard Jordan Poole tied it with a pair of free throws at the other end.
MSU took a four-point lead heading down the stretch, but Brazdeikis followed with a rebound and putback, and the Spartans went into halftime with a 39-37 edge.
MSU shot 56 percent from the floor and 41.7 percent from long range to Michigan’s 43.3 and 41.7 in the first half. Goins led the Spartans with 13 points and Simpson scored 10 to lead the Wolverines.
Michigan State got 10 points off U-M turnovers, one of the big differences in the half.
SECOND HALF
Michigan finally got the lead back in the early part of the half, getting three free throws from Brazdeikis to take a 44-41 edge. The teams continued to go back and forth, and U-M went up 49-45 on a Poole drive and-one, MSU’s fifth foul of the half only three minutes and change in.
A Brazdeikis baseline drive and finish made it 51-45 at 15:32 and forced a Spartans timeout, and the Wolverines seemed ready to take off, especially when they made it to the bonus on Zavier Tillman’s fourth foul at 13:13. But Brazdeikis missed the front end of a one-and-one, and a defensive screw-up led to an uncontested lay-up.
Poole than fouled McQuaid at 11:50 on a three-point shot, and McQuaid made all three to put the Spartans up 52-51.
Simpson took it at Winston to gave the Wolverines the lead back at 10:35 with a bucket inside; Winston answered with a cut and finish, and the back and forth body blows continued.
MSU took a three-point lead on a Goins jumper, and the Wolverines went cold.
With eight minutes remaining, MSU led 58-55 on a Tillman bucket inside, at which point the Spartans had 14 assists to the Wolverines’ five. The ball was sticking, and the Wolverines were jacking up long triples.
MSU frosh Aaron Henry made a pair of free throws at 7:06 to make it 60-55, and U-M was out of sorts.
Winston’s drive and finish at 6:12 had Michigan on the ropes, 62-55.
The two teams traded buckets, but MSU was in full control when Matthews’ runner rimmed out at the five-minute mark, leading 64-57. On the other end, McQuaid’s jumper bounced in to put the Spartans up eight, which is where it remained at 3:17, the last TV timeout.
Michigan cut it to five again on a Brazdeikis drive and finish, but Michigan State went back up 10 before Poole hit a couple of long threes and cut it back to five. MSU closed it out from the line to pull the upset in round one, with the rematch slated for March 9 in East Lansing.
The Wolverines made only five of 22 triples and were 0-for-10 from long range in the second half until Poole hit a couple.
Simpson finished with 19 points and Brazdeikis 16 to lead the Wolverines.
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