Michigan men’s basketball came out a little flat in a highly anticipated rivalry game against in-state rival, Michigan State. The No. 12 Wolverines let the No. 14 Sparts get out to an early 16-8 lead, but Michigan would mount a comeback. A 15-0 run sparked by Danny Wolf and Nimari Burnett put the Wolverines up 23-16 and Michigan will hold a 38-34 lead at the break.

But the second half was a different game. Michigan got out slow again and the Spartans were hot. Michigan State would outscore the Wolverines 41-24 in the second half to defeat Michigan, 75-62. The Spartans would take the lead in the Big Ten standings after taking down Michigan.

Here are some takeaways from the game.

Michigan wasn’t great to start the game, as mentioned above, but the Wolverines were really bad to start the second half. The maize and blue came out flat and Michigan State did not. Michigan started 2-of-7 from the field and turned the ball over three times while the Spartans built themselves a lead. Michigan was shooting just 17% from the field in the second half with just over seven minutes in the game and Michigan State was hot shooting over 50%.

The Spartans got help from Tre Holloman who would hit three 3s in a row to give the Spartans a boost off the bench. Between Holloman and Jase Richardson, the Spartans would combat anything type of run the Wolverines would try to go on. Michigan State outscored Michigan 41-24 in the second half.

The only thing that kept Michigan State in the game in the first half was rebounding the ball. Michigan held a four-point lead after the first 20 minutes and the Spartans out-rebounded the Wolverines, 18-11, in the first half. It would get a little better for Michigan in the second half, but Michigan State would start scoring the ball more efficiently and it wouldn’t matter.

The Spartans had 14 offensive rebounds and it resulted in 15 second-chance points for the Spartans. Coen Carr, Carson Cooper, and Jase Richardson all contributed to getting second-chance boards for MSU. The Wolverines struggled boxing out and it showed on the box score. Michigan State out-rebounded the Wolverines 34-25 in the game.

Danny Wolf had seven quick points for Michigan and he would only score four the rest of the game. It was clear early in the game that the former Yale transfer had a mismatch if he would take advantage of it. He hit a turn-around shot early and hit a couple of bunnies, but once Michigan had a lead, he lost his aggression. Even when the Spartans took control of the game, Wolf looked to pass.

Vlad Goldin attempted to put the Wolverines on his back. Out of the 21 points he scored, 13 of them came in the second half. Michigan started feeding Goldin but the Wolverines struggled to stop Michigan State and trading field goals wasn’t going to get the job done.

If Michigan is going to make a deep run, it needs more from Wolf in crunch time. Wolf is one of the only players who can create a shot whenever he wants. The Wolverines need him to take advantage of that.

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