ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan wasn’t going to waste another chance to secure the Big Ten crown.
Not after getting run over by Illinois. Not on Senior Night. And especially not against rival Michigan State.
The No. 2 Wolverines refused to be denied as they dominated the second half to bury the Spartans, 69-50, in a foul-filled, wire-to-wire victory Thursday at Crisler Center.
With the win, Michigan clinched its first regular-season conference title since 2013-14 and 15th in program history. The Wolverines also locked down the No. 1 seed for next week’s Big Ten tournament in Indianapolis.
Sophomore wing Franz Wagner scored 19 and freshman center Hunter Dickinson had 14 points and 10 rebounds to lead the way for Michigan (19-2, 14-2 Big Ten) and put an end to the program’s six-year title drought.
Junior wing Aaron Henry had 14 points on 6-for-15 shooting for Michigan State (14-11, 8-11), which will have another shot to boost its NCAA Tournament resume in Sunday’s rematch in East Lansing.
After using a late surge to build an 11-point halftime lead, it didn’t take long for Michigan to put Michigan State away in the second half with a 25-4 run over an 11-minute stretch that was spurred by hustle plays.
Dickinson dove on the court and won the battle for a loose ball that led to a 3-pointer from Wagner. Senior guard Eli Brooks chased down another loose ball while going out of bounds and found Dickinson for a two-handed slam. Add in another Dickinson dunk and a 3-pointer from grad transfer guard Mike Smith, the Wolverines’ lead swelled to 49-32 with 15:23 to play as they rattled off 10 straight points.
For an offense that mightily struggled outside of Henry and a defense that had no answer for Dickinson inside or Wagner outside, that proved to be an insurmountable mountain for Michigan State to climb. And that was before Michigan kept pulling away, with Wagner bookending a string of 13 unanswered points with 3-pointers to make it 64-36 with 6:20 remaining.
Michigan maintained at least a 21-point lead until all of its seniors — Brooks, Smith, Austin Davis and Isaiah Livers — checked out in the closing minutes in their final home game before celebrating the title on the court as confetti fell.
The Wolverines had the early edge in a first half that was riddled with whistles, turnovers and scrappy play. They scored the first seven points and held the Spartans scoreless over the opening four minutes before Henry converted a spin and finish at the rim.
Smith and Brooks combined for Michigan’s first 11 points before Dickinson got involved. Dickinson took advantage of a one-on-one matchup in the post and scored three straight baskets, the last a three-point play that gave the Wolverines an 18-10 lead with 9:45 left in the first half.
Michigan State kept hanging around thanks to sophomore guard Rocket Watts and Henry, who provided much of the offense and had a pair of thunderous dunks. The second came during a 6-0 spurt that helped the Spartans cut the deficit to 18-16 at the 7:43 mark.
Michigan swung back and took a 27-18 lead on a 3-pointer from Wagner, but it could never sustain the momentum as the fouls piled up on both sides — including a flagrant on Henry — and Michigan State continued to effectively muck up the game.
But with Henry on the bench down the stretch, the Wolverines used a 9-2 run to take a 39-28 advantage into the break in a half the featured 21 combined fouls and 15 total turnovers.
