NEW YORK (Eagle News) – One state with two great storied basketball programs. It was a battle between top-seeded Michigan State Spartans and fifth-seeded defending champions, Michigan Wolverines in the first semifinal of the Big Ten Tournament at Madison Square Garden.
The Wolverines shot 66% from the field in the second half to knock off the nation’s second-ranked Spartans 75-64 Saturday afternoon. Five players scored in double figures led by Muhammad-Ali Abdur Rahkman, Zavier Simpson, and Moritz Wagner scoring 15 points apiece.
The Spartans led 29-26 at the half but the Wolverines went on a 9-0 run to go up 36-31 early in the second half. With Michigan State shooting poorly, Michigan took advantage and extended their lead to seven with 7:10 to play.
The Spartans got within five but Abdur-Rahkman extended the Wolverines lead to eight with a three as Michigan gained control of the game in its entirety. The win extended their streak to eight, moving on to their second consecutive final and snapped Michigan State’s 13-game winning streak.
“Great game, incredible atmosphere here at Madison Square Garden,” said Wolverines Head Coach, John Beilein. “It had every element that you could ever want and even more because of Michigan-Michigan State being here. We beat a really, really good basketball team, a team [that] can win the national championship. We’re very appreciative that we’re able to get a win today.”
A sold-out crowd of 19,812 were at hand to watch the in-state rivals play, with the majority rooting for Michigan. One of the oldest rivalries in college basketball history started in 1909, with the Wolverines leading the way with 92 wins.
“Yeah, the crowd was huge,” said reserve Duncan Robinson, who finished with 13 points off the bench. “We know there’s a good contingency of Michigan fans here in New York. So that’s one of the reasons why we’re excited to com and play here. That was a huge difference in the play. We really felt their support and it was a difference maker.”
Spartan’s superstar and National Player of the Year candidate Miles Bridges led the Spartans with 17 points but fouled out of the game with 1:35 left in the game. Michigan State shot only 38% from the field the entire game.
“We know what we’re capable of,” Bridges said of the loss. “We’re not going to let one loss determine how we play for the rest of the season, because we know we have bigger goals ahead. We’re just going to try to move on, get back in practice and continue to get better.”
Michigan will face third-seeded and eighth-ranked Purdue Boilermakers for the title game on Sunday. The Boilermakers easily defeated seventh-seed Penn State Nittany Lions 78-70 in the second semifinal game.
As many of the top college basketball conferences such as the Big East and ACC play their tournaments next week, several of the Big Ten teams will enjoy a week’s rest before the start of the NCAA tournament.
“The best part is we’re on spring break next week at Michigan State,” the legendary coach, Tom Izzo said. “So we might just go to the beach, [in] East Lansing and see if we can play beach basketball and – we’re going to do something. We talked about doing something in Chicago [or] we might go down and see the Pistons or do something as a team.”
(Eagle News Service, Tennie Sumague, EBC New York Bureau)
