The villainous Vizzini once identified the two classic blunders as follows: “Never get involved in a land war in Asia, but only slightly lesser known: never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line.”
Here’s a third: never wait until you play at the Breslin Center to try and win a Big Ten championship.
In the end, the Spartans and their fulminating followers had too much for Michigan — too much playmaking, too much eardrum-shattering opposition and too much momentum when volcanic fury flowed freely from the stands.
With a conference title on the line, the home crowd stood ready to will its team to a win. The Spartans certainly did their part, awakening from a 12-point first-half deficit to surge to a 75-63 victory in as big a regular-season game as these two teams will ever play.
“In the second half, we weren’t very good,” Michigan coach John Beilein acknowledged. “Michigan State — congratulate them on winning a piece of the championship. It’s really hard to do, to finish your year 16-4 — to win on the road, to win at home. They did a great job.”
When the smoke cleared from a 20-game Big Ten season, Purdue and MSU stood tied at the top, the Wolverines a tantalizing game away from a banner. There’s certainly no shame in a 26-5 (15-5) season, with potentially higher levels of achievement awaiting.
But when you get this close and miss, it stings like a swim-suited stumble into a hornets’ next.
Yet there stood Beilein with a handful of baking soda, ready to start slapping it on and moving forward.
“We’ll take the lessons we learned from this game, apply them to the Big Ten Tournament, see if we can win that again,” he said. “If we can’t, we’ll apply them to the NCAA Tournament, and just keep getting better. We’ve got a good group of young men, who are really hurting right now, and we’re with them all the way.”
When everything fell apart in the Breslin, it hurt miserably. A banked-in three-pointer by MSU’s Cassius Winston (23 points, seven assists) opened the door for the Spartans, and the Wolverines ran straight into the wall. Just like in Crisler Center two weeks ago, Michigan hit a horrific second-half scoring slump that ensured a loss.
From the 12:23 mark of the second half — while Michigan still clung to a 50-45 lead — to the 5:04 mark, the Wolverines scored three points. MSU poured on 21, and essentially put a championship on ice.
Michigan lost a share of the title, officially, amid the thunderous cacophony of the Breslin Center during those excruciating moments. But this was a huge climb. The Wolverines went 5-for-7 from the free throw line. Michigan State went 23-for-30.
The banner really slipped from their hands on an ill-fated night in State College, Pa., when Beilein got tossed and his team turned by a squad that won just six conference games. It further got away when the Wolverines had the Spartans in their own building, and couldn’t close them out.
And yet, there remained one more chance. For 30 minutes, Michigan gripped it like a life ring in the middle of a roaring ocean.
The Wolverine came out of the gate unafraid and on fire, using a pair of threes by freshman forward Iggy Brazdeikis (20 points) to establish an early advantage. They maintained it throughout the first half, even employing lineups not approved by University of Michigan cardiologists.
Brazdeikis nailed all five of his first-half shots, scoring nine points but playing only nine minutes with foul trouble. When he and sophomore forward Isaiah Livers hit the bench with two fouls each — taking a seat with injured and absent senior starter Charles Matthews — the Spartans appeared primed to make a move.
But a funny thing happened on the way to U-M’s runway-model-thin bench capitulating.
It didn’t.
Sophomore guard Eli Brooks hit a three, freshman guard David DeJulius connected on a hack-resistant drive to the bucket, and the Wolverines actually increased their margin to 12, with 3:12 remaining in the half.
But leads can melt quickly in the Breslin Center, where the Hate Meter pegs in the red when its most despised rival shows any sign of cracking. When MSU sliced the lead in half at halftime, the meter hit ISIS-Plus.
The Wolverines led, 35-29, without the benefit of a single free throw. No shocker there. The only favor Beilein’s crew sought this night involved spitters missing and the Silence of the (Obscene) Slams at the end.
It all came apart in the second half, and the Breslin shook right along. The Wolverines themselves, Beilein acknowledged, were shaken.
“We played like 90 percent and 100 percent packed houses, and we did not lose our poise, in all seven of our road wins,” Beilein insisted. “Today, we lost our poise.”
He also reminded everyone that a year ago, Michigan State won the regular season crown, and Michigan followed with a Big Ten Tournament title. He said it could happen again, and reminded all to consider what this state has going, in terms of college basketball.
He then went out into the night, ready to furiously figure out a different ending, regardless of the venue.
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