It didn’t take long for Michigan State to take control of Sunday’s rivalry clash. Within the first four minutes, Michigan turned the ball over five times, and the Spartans scored their first eight points off of those takeaways. By the under-12 timeout, Michigan State led by 14 points, and never let its lead fall back to single digits.
From tipoff, the Wolverines couldn’t match the level of urgency that the Spartans brought. While Michigan State spent the first half clogging up passing lanes, pestering Michigan ball handlers and draining 3-pointers, the Wolverines instead played lackadaisically.
On the offensive end, they threw passes into double teams and no man’s land, collecting 11 turnovers in the frame. It seemed like besides graduate center Vlad Goldin, no one had any interest in scoring for Michigan. Other than one made 3-pointer by graduate guard Nimari Burnett with 11:27 left in the half, Goldin was the only Wolverine to score within the first 15 minutes of the game.
As bad as Michigan’s non-Goldin offensive play was, its defensive effort was arguably worse. The Wolverines allowed the Spartans to reach their highest first-half points total all season, giving up 50 points at a rate of 1.42 points per possession. The end result was a 22-point halftime deficit for Michigan, leaving it with little real shot to get back into the game.
“It’s happened these last few games where we get out to these really bad starts and find ourselves having to claw back in,” junior forward Danny Wolf said. “It starts with turnovers and rebounding, and it’s a collective effort to realize that you can’t have those mental errors.”
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