EAST LANSING, Mich. — Michigan State exacted a bit of revenge on Sunday afternoon, and in the process might have locked up a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
Behind a huge effort from Rocket Watts and more big moments late in the game from Aaron Henry, Michigan State knocked off No. 2 Michigan, 70-64, at the Breslin Center to close the regular season three days after the Wolverines clinched the Big Ten title in Ann Arbor by beating the Spartans.
Watts scored 21 and Henry added 18 points, with 13 coming in the second half to lead Michigan State (15-11, 9-11 Big Ten). Joey Hauser added 11 points for the Spartans, who will be the nine-seed in next week’s Big Ten tournament.
Chaundee Brown scored 13 and Hunter Dickinson scored 12 to lead Michigan (19-3, 14-3), though he battled foul trouble for much of the game and the Wolverines lost guard Eli Brooks early in the game after he injured his left ankle. Mike Smith added 11 points while Franz Wagner was limited to 10 points and Isaiah Livers had just nine.
It was a frigid offensive start for both teams as they combined to open the game 4-for-17 as it was 5-5 at the first media timeout. Michigan’s offensive flow didn’t get any better when Brooks went down after scoring five in a row for the Wolverines. His injury marked the start of a 7-0 run for Michigan State as Hauser hit a couple of buckets and Watts got his first shot to fall.
Michigan eventually found some rhythm and ran off to an 11-2 surge to take a 21-17 lead with 5:20 left in the half. But Michigan State responded with eight points in a row to jump back in front, 25-21, and closed the half on a 13-4 run to lead 30-26 headed to the locker room.
Watts had 11 in the first half while Hauser scored nine. Michigan got seven points each from Livers and Smith, but Dickinson was limited to three points and picked up two fouls while Wagner was just 1-for-5 in the opening 20 minutes.
The teams traded buckets for the first four minutes of the second half before a Henry 3-pointer started to swing things in Michigan State’s favor as the Spartans went on a 9-2 run to take a 47-38 lead with 11:59 to play.
The Spartans extended the lead to 55-44 with 5:58 to play after a free throw from Marcus Bingham, but Michigan scored the next five points to pull within six with 4:40 to play. The Spartans pushed the lead back to 59-51, but a Wagner three and a bucket from Dickinson got the Wolverines within 61-56 with 1:51 left in the game.
Michigan pulled within two inside a minute after a three-point play from Dickinson, but Joshua Langford hit a 3-pointer with 48 seconds to play to give the Spartans a 64-59 lead. Gabe Brown then hit a pair of free throws before a Wanger three cut it to 66-62. Brown added two more free throws and Henry got two of his own to put the game away for Michigan State.
