Sunday's matchup between Michigan and Michigan State will be the first of at least two games this year between the cross-state rivals. The Spartans won all three meetings last year, and that seems to have stuck with the U-M players.
"If you look back at the game [at MSU last season], we led the majority of the game towards the end, sophomore guard David DeJulius said Friday afternoon. "This time, [we're] just making sure that we’re locked in for 40 minutes straight."
DeJulius said U-M hadn't been looking ahead to this game, but all eyes are on the Spartans now that it's almost here.
"Now that we’re here, we’re locked in and you can just see everyone’s focus levels have picked up," he said. "Everyone is locked in and engaged from the coaching staff down to the managers."
For the Michigan natives, this game means just a bit more.
"Most definitely, it means a lot for me," DeJulius said. "Growing up, I was a Michigan fan and I grew up watching this rivalry, seeing guys that I looked up to play at Michigan and Michigan State. I just feel like, me being from Detroit, I owe it to the great taxpayers of this state, I owe it to my friends and family from this state, to just go out there and compete and give it all I got."
Another Michigan native, Brandon Johns, grew up in the shadows of MSU's campus in East Lansing. His teammates know how important this game will be for him, especially with his increased role due to junior forward Isaiah Livers' injury.
"It’s huge," senior center Jon Teske said of Johns' opportunity to start in his hometown. "Especially coming from over there ... I think he’s really excited to go in there and play. He deserves it. He’s earned it. He’s shown in the past, going back to last year, he’s capable of going in there, playing hard, bringing that energy. We all trust him to go in there and do his job."
The Breslin Center poses challenges of its own, in addition to how good the MSU team is on a year-to-year basis. MSU is undefeated in Big Ten play so far at 3-0, after beating Illinois on Thursday night in East Lansing.
"It’s hard [to win there] because, first and foremost, they have a tradition there with a great coach in Tom Izzo and great players each and every year," DeJulius said. "So, they play with a championship pedigree each and every time you play against them. And then, you implement that with the crowd and tradition that they have with the student section, it’s most definitely difficult, but I feel like if we just stay locked in, stay together, we’ll be fine."
Teske said the more experienced players are sharing with the younger players, like freshman guard Franz Wagner, what to expect from playing at MSU.
"He can text his brother, call his brother and kind of get what Moe has been through," Teske said. "Us players tell the young guys kind of what to expect there. It’s a tough place to play. They’re all on you right there, right away.
"Franz is a freshman, but on the court, he’s played with professionals, so I think he’s going to stay focused, he’s going to stay locked in even with everything going on around him. We just tell him to lock in and stay focused."
Friday afternoon, head coach Juwan Howard wouldn't admit that this game is bigger than the others, saying every game is an important game. His players revealed that they've seen a different Howard as the team prepares for the Spartans.
"As far as looking at their emphasis, I would say Coach Howard is more enthusiastic about it, for sure," DeJulius said, comparing Howard's demeanor heading into MSU compared to John Beilein's from previous experiences. "You can just tell, he’s just as pumped as we are. If you watch him in practice, he’s jumping up and down, he’s yelling, he’s screaming. He wants to get this one under his belt, and most importantly, he wants us to get this one under our belt, as well."
"He got a little bit emotional today in film, a little bit on the court today and yesterday," Teske added. "Anytime you’re playing your rival like that, the emotion is going to run high. We just gotta keep him in check, but yeah, definitely you can tell he’s a little fiery about this game.
It’s different. Coach Howard has played here. He knows them well. It’s just different from Coach B."
Notes
• As far as schematics on the floor, MSU caught the Wolverines by surprise last year by switching ball screens in the first matchup. Teske says that U-M is more equipped to face that look than a year ago.
"The last couple weeks, every so often in practice in a couple drills, the coaches will throw something in there, throw a different wrench at us to see how we can respond. We’ve been working at it, even watching film from last year. Just see what we can do better, see how we can improve, how we can attack that. We just gotta go out there and play our game.
We didn’t really expect them to do that [last year]. Once they did that, we had to kind of change what we wanted to do against them. You don’t know what to expect until the game is played. We gotta just respond better and see who can make the better changes, and just go from there."
Attacking the switches on ball screens includes throwing the ball into the post more when Teske and the other U-M big men have mismatches with a smaller defender.
"I feel a lot more comfortable with that," Teske said. "The guards do, too. We’ve just worked on it a lot more now. Coach Howard really focuses on that, throwing it inside, obviously. He gets on the guards about that, and he gets on the big guys. He’s really put an emphasis on it, and I think we’re well-prepared."
• MSU senior point guard Cassius Winston is the reigning Big Ten Player of the Year, and is averaging 17.8 points and 6.1 assists per game this season. DeJulius knows him well, and knows what makes him so difficult to go up against.
"We played on the same AAU team, The Family when we were in elementary school," DeJulius said of Winston. "I was working out with him before I even committed to Michigan, so I kind of know a lot about him. He’s a very crafty player, always been smart. People always talk about, maybe he’s not athletically this or athletically that, but always has dominated his opponent because he out-thought him and out-smarted him."
Teske knows a lot about going up against Winston, as well, having had some battles guarding him in ball screens the last three seasons.
"Sometimes, he may have a two-on-one versus a one-on-one, and we just have to try and use our length, our height advantage and just try to play a cat and mouse game, play games with him and give him different looks," Teske said.
One of those 'games' that U-M will play with Winston and MSU is its different approach to playing ball screens this season. The Wolverines have used drop coverage much of the year, as opposed to hedging the screen with the big-man. Teske says that it may be easier getting rebounds with this year's approach.
"It’s just a little different," he said. "I’m getting a little more used to it. Obviously, when you’re farther back like that, you have more of an opportunity to get those rebounds. Unlike last year, when [I was] on the perimeter guarding those ball screens. As big guys, we gotta go in there and get the rebounds regardless. Whether you’re up top or down low, you just gotta be aggressive and go get them."
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