The start of the evening on Friday was much better than the ending of the night. The Wolverines got trounced by rival Michigan State in the second half on Friday night to lose, 75-62. Michigan was outscored 41-24 in the final 20 minutes and the Wolverines didn’t have an answer for Jase Richardson or Tre Holloman.

While Michigan slipped to second in the Big Ten standings following the home loss, the start of the evening sent fireworks when Michigan announced it signed head coach Dusty May to an extension just 25 games into his first season coaching the Wolverines.

RELATED: Takeaways: Michigan basketball suffers second-half collapse against rival Michigan State

Following the game, Athletic Director Warde Manuel sat down for a brief press conference and was asked if there was a sense of urgency to extend May once Mike Woodson announced he was out as the Indiana head coach following the season. Manuel said the talks with May began well before Indiana was set to have a vacancy at head coach.

“I actually told Dusty when I sat and talked to him about a week ago,” Manuel began to say during the press conference. “I said: ‘First of all, it’s been a great season. I’m proud of you. You’ve accomplished far more than I ever thought you would at this point in your tenure here.’

“But what made me mad is that we started to talk about this before they went to Indiana and all that started. So I want to assure you all that this has nothing to do with a reaction to that. This has to do with a decision, talking to President Ono, and talking through this with my basketball administrator, Doug Gnodtke, that this is what we wanted to do. So it’s a great day, but I just want to assure people this has nothing to do with that.”

When the Wolverines released the press release on Michigan signing May, there weren’t any details for length. Manuel said both lawyers are still dotting some I’s and crossing some T’s but it should all get done very soon. Manuel looks at May’s new deal as a new contract because it will be for a new five years with Michigan.

“Yeah, I look at it as a new contract because there’s some things in that contract that you strike through, like a signing bonus and stuff like that and moving expenses,” said Manuel. “I’m not paying if he moves again in Ann Arbor. You know, that’s on him.

“But it’s really a new contract. It’s five years. I don’t know all the stuff that’s out there, so I can’t speak to exactly what’s out there. Like I said, our lawyers have already been talking. It’s going to be done very soon. There’s not a lot to put in there, change some numbers, move some things around. I mean, the contract, we haggled over that for a long time. And so I think both his agent and our lawyer will get this done very quickly.”

With the Indiana speculation off the table, Michigan and May can put all of their focus on Michigan making a run in March.

Enjoy more Michigan Wolverines coverage on Michigan Wolverines On SI –

Social media explodes after Michigan basketball extended Dusty May’s contract