Moritz Wagner played his best game of the season and his teammates, in turn, put on their best defensive showing in a long time.
Michigan walked into the Breslin Center in East Lansing, Mich., on Saturday and left with an 82-72 upset victory over No. 4 Michigan State.
Wagner poured in a career-high 27 points and the Wolverines forced MSU into 17 turnovers, scoring their best win of the season.
Michigan (15-4, 4-2 Big Ten) earned its third win at Breslin since 2010 and has now won back-to-back games against the Spartans. Saturday was the only regular-season meeting between the two teams.
After a stellar defensive performance for 30 minutes, Michigan found itself up five after a Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman three-point play with 9:49 to play. Through that point, Michigan had forced MSU into 14 turnovers and collected 23 points off them.
MSU threatened runs at two different points, but both were answered by Wagner 3-pointers to give the Wolverines momentum back.
Every time the Spartans swung, Michigan answered. Wagner's pair of free throws with 5:32 left made it a six-point game, before Zavier Simpson's driving layup capped an 11-2 run and gave the Wolverines their largest lead, 65-57, with 4:59 left.
Michigan continued to keep MSU at bay from there, getting another driving bucket from Wagner before Matthews drove and flushed a two-handed jam with 2:29 to go, making it 71-63.
The Spartans stayed close by intentionally sending Simpson to the line. It worked briefly, as he missed four straight to help the Spartans draw back within six. But he followed up with two makes.
The Wolverines went 28 for 35 from the foul line and effectively kept the Spartans off the offensive glass. In a category usually dominated by MSU in this series, Michigan finished the game with 11 offensive rebounds to MSU's seven.
Michigan could not stay out of foul trouble through the first 20 minutes, as centers Wagner, Jon Teske and Austin Davis all each picked up two fouls. The Wolverines were whistled for 12 fouls during the first half, as MSU pounded the ball inside for 20 points in the paint.
The Wolverines feasted on MSU's turnovers in the first half, scoring 17 points off the Spartans' eight miscues.
The 6-foot-11 junior had 14 points after the break, continually taking MSU's centers off the dribble and hitting from long range.
He had two huge momentum-busting 3s in the second half and finished 3 for 4 from 3-point range.
MSU threw both Nick Ward and Xavier Tillman at Wagner, but neither were able to slow him down as his 27 points came in just 27 minutes of play.
Michigan was outscored 20-12 in the paint during the first half, but scrapped back throughout the second to cut that margin to 34-32.
The points in the paint were the difference for MSU in the first half, but Michigan's ability to get into the paint with its guards (and Wagner) and finish at the rim turned the game around.
MSU had no answer for Michigan defensively in this one, regardless of the lineup it attempted to play.
