Michigan vs. Michigan State: Score and Twitter Reaction from 2015 Regular Season

Scoring in overtime is ideal, as Michigan found out the hard way in its 76-66 loss to archrival Michigan State on Sunday at the Spartans' Breslin Center.   

The Wolverines battled through injuries to Caris LeVert (out for the year) and Derrick Walton Jr. (missed Sunday's game with a foot ailment) along with foul trouble to force the extra time in East Lansing, but the Spartans were simply too much after regulation. 

Michigan State won the overtime period 10-0.

Nati Harnik/Associated Press

Denzel Valentine played one of his best games of the season with 25 points, seven assists, seven rebounds and two steals while making a number of critical plays in the second half and overtime.

Senior forward Branden Dawson added 19 points, 10 rebounds, three steals and two blocks while playing lockdown defense on Michigan's Zak Irvin for much of the game.

Spike Albrecht and Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman led the way for the Wolverines with 18 points each.

Brendan F. Quinn of MLive Media Group noted that the Wolverines were dealing with some injuries before the game, while Joe Rexrode of the Detroit Free Press pointed out what that meant for the Spartans:

With Michigan low on playmakers, Michigan State coach Tom Izzo used his best defender on Irvin to start the game with the hopes of shutting down the Wolverines' attack:

Despite the injury problems, Michigan came out with the most energy in the early going. The Wolverines took a 15-8 lead and forced the Spartans into some initial misses by switching their defense between man-to-man and zone.

Matt Charboneau of The Detroit News pointed out that Michigan State was simply missing looks it shouldn't have:

The first half took a negative turn for Michigan when Abdur-Rahkman picked up his second foul, much to the dismay of head coach John Beilein, via Rexrode:

The Spartans chipped away at that early deficit and actually took an 18-17 lead by getting to the line throughout the middle stretch of the first half, which didn't seem to surprise Charboneau:

The teams went back and forth for the rest of the first half until Valentine got hot from deep in the final two minutes, as Kyle Austin of MLive noted:

Valentine's two late three-pointers helped the Spartans open up a 29-24 lead at intermission, despite only shooting 29 percent from the field and 54.5 percent from the free-throw line as a team in the first 20 minutes.

Even with the poor shooting, Izzo was likely thrilled to be beating his archrival given his pregame comments, via Mike Griffith of MLive.com:

"

The old cliche is keep it one game at a time, but who's kidding who? There are games that are bigger than others. It's nice for media, it's nice for conversation, it's not nice for reality. This game should mean more.

What I tell my guys, it doesn't just mean a lot because you're from the state of Michigan -- Alabama and Auburn have a helluva rivalry and every kid isn't from Alabama. It's the school you play for, it's who you are.

"

Both teams came to play out of the locker room, though, and Michigan closed the gap, eventually taking a 37-36 lead early in the second half. Rexrode commented on the two offenses:

The hot shooting continued for the Wolverines, as Albrecht drilled a three and Abdur-Rahkman attacked the lane to open up a five-point lead.

The Wolverines were starting to gain some confidence on the floor and weren't backing down, Quinn pointed out, especially since Abdur-Rahkman was 7-of-8 from the field and slicing the Michigan State defense apart:

Both Seth Davis of Sports Illustrated and Bob Baptist of The Columbus Dispatch were impressed with Michigan's ability to not only stay in the game but also hold a second-half lead:

However, the Spartans responded and inserted some energy into the home crowd looking for a reason to cheer. Hot shooting from behind the arc from Valentine and impressive defense from Dawson spearheaded a run, which had the viewers buzzing:

To Michigan's credit, every time the Spartans went on a run to create some separation, the Wolverines battled back. Albrecht and Irvin drilled two three-pointers in the span of a minute to put Michigan back up 54-53, which quieted the crowd.

Both teams started to push the tempo in the later portion of the second half, which led to multiple high-level plays on both ends of the floor. Kyle Austin of MLive pointed out how entertaining the second half was with just over five minutes remaining in the game:

As the Wolverines took a 61-59 lead into the under-four-minute timeout, Ace Anbender of MGoBlog acknowledged that Michigan State fans probably never dreamed the game would be so close:

An alley-oop from Valentine to Dawson tied the game at 61 and whipped the crowd into a frenzy with less than three minutes remaining. It set the stage for a critical closing stretch.

At that point, Travis Trice came though for the Spartans with a smooth mid-range jumper to put his team up two, and then he forced a turnover. Naturally, Trice followed that stretch with a picture-perfect assist to a wide-open Bryn Forbes waiting in the corner. Suddenly, it was 66-61 in favor of the Spartans:

Just when it looked like the game was over, Albrecht drilled a three-pointer from well beyond the line to cut the lead to 66-64. 

Following the Albrecht three, Valentine missed the front end of a one-and-one, and the Wolverines forced overtime with a Max Bielfeldt basket to tie the game at 66. Charboneau said what every Michigan State fan was thinking at the end of regulation:

The Spartans started off overtime with a quick basket and then two free throws, which came off Aubrey Dawkins' fifth and final foul. Following that, the Spartans added two more on an inside basket to create some separation.

Just like that, it was 72-66 in favor of Michigan State.

The perimeter shots that the Wolverines were hitting in regulation simply didn't fall in the overtime period, as fatigue and the raucous crowd finally appeared to get to Michigan. The Spartans completely ran away with overtime and won the game 76-66.

With the win, the Spartans secured bragging rights for the time being between the two rivals.

What's Next?

Al Goldis/Associated Press

Michigan State will look to carry over some momentum from Sunday's win when it hosts Illinois on Saturday. The Spartans are not a lock to make the NCAA tournament at this point and need to rack together wins in the conference to secure their bid and climb up the Big Ten standings. 

After all, Wisconsin is still well within striking distance with a two-game lead on Izzo's squad in the loss column. 

Michigan returns home for a Thursday clash with Iowa. While the Wolverines deserve some credit for the way they battled through foul trouble and injuries on Sunday, it is difficult to envision a second-half charge in the Big Ten schedule without LeVert and with Walton still hampered for the time being.

A win at home against the Hawkeyes would certainly help the cause.