Michigan State Spartans Dominate Michigan Wolverines at Breslin Center

Michigan is back!

No, not back to cheating and still not winning a title. No, not back to having their coach leave for a lackluster Arizona State coaching job on the eve of the NCAA tournament fueling speculation that they were cheating when they actually did get a title.

They're back to being dominated by their "little brother" at Michigan State's Breslin Center.  For the ninth time in ten games at the Breslin, MSU earned an early lead and never looked back with the game ending in a double-digit victory for the Spartans, 64-54.

MSU dominated the boards 40 to 15—with MSU's Draymond Green out-rebounding the entire Michigan team with 16 of his own. MSU's Green, Derrick Nix and Adreian Payne owned the lane and basically did whatever they wanted. 

MSU's Keith Appling locked down UM's Trey Burke and did a great job directing traffic to get the ball into the lane for points in the paint. Green led the balanced attack with 14, while eight other Spartans also scored.

Michigan tied the game at 5-5 early in the first half, but then it was all MSU. Long three-pointers by UM, unforced MSU turnovers on bad passes and unique officiating including a 9 to 5 foul advantage early in the second half, a "make up technical foul", and a back to the basket flop "and 1" that was clearly on the floor kept MSU from building a 20-point lead.  However, the game was never in doubt.

Michigan's Zack Novac was the one bright spot for the Wolverines. He showed incredible grit and leadership by scoring 14 points and not backing down from Green. He wasn't enough to keep the game close.

Michigan State has won nine of the last 10 games against Michigan at the Breslin Center with every win coming by double digits and the average margin of victory being 20.2 points.