Michigan Basketball gets closer to double bye in Big Ten Tournament

The two teams met earlier this season on December 4. Even more important than the triples: The timing of them.

Northwestern’s men basketball team had a 27-point lead on Michigan State with 24 minutes and 18 seconds left in its home game on Saturday. Wins over MI and Nebraska to close the season would be huge.

“I don’t even know what to make of it; if the Big Ten did it on objective because MI played Purdue last year on their “Senior Night” and Spike was there and now it’s the same thing this year”.

MI seniors Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman (team-high 17 points), Duncan Robinson, Jaaron Simmons, and Austin Hatch were honored in a pre-game ceremony.

MI has also won four of the last five games overall. But UM could significantly boost its stock with a strong finish before the Big Ten tournament, which begins February 28 at Madison Square Garden. On top of that, Miles Bridges will cause problems and Cassius Winston will play a smart game. “And if that’s the way the game is going to be allowed to be played – which clearly it is – then he’s got to do a better job adjusting to that and playing through that physicality”.

Jaren Jackson Jr. converted on a lay-up to give Michigan State their first lead of the game at 56-53 and the Spartans never trailed again.

Mark the performance of freshman Jordan Poole as a huge key to the Wolverine upset. Poole, nicknamed “the microwave” was cooking early. It was his 127th game for MI, and he combined along with Poole and Zavier Simpson for 45 points on the afternoon.

Rahkman, who was honored on senior day, was able to score 17 points and lead UM in scoring on the day.

Simpson was a defensive stalwart, but also got his share of baskets, finishing with 13 points. Afterwards, Simpson said that he feels it is his job to set the tone on both offense and defense.

“I think that’s all he needed was to be in this year right now and have that latitude that I can make mistakes and stay in there because there’s not some guard that I’m taking his place right now”. The tough MI defense should feed off the crowd. Junior forward Keita Bates Diop has been the difference maker for the Bucks. Diop leads the team with 19.9 points and nine rebounds per game.

With 8:47 remaining, Michigan State erased their once thought of as an insurmountable deficit and tied game at 53-53 on the heels of a 21-0 run. The game starts at 1 p.m. ET.

Hatch, who is part of the MI basketball program on a medical scholarship, dressed for the game and participated in warmups for the first time this season. The Wolverines, on the other hand, turned the ball over just 7 times. MI scored 22 points off of turnovers, while OSU had just 11.

The Buckeyes got a run, and a break.

One area which was a concern tonight was MI giving up a whopping 15 offensive rebounds, while collecting just 4.

Due to Nebraska’s win over MI, the Huskers own the tiebreaker. Jae-Sean Tate led the way with 20 points and 15 boards for the Buckeyes.