Michigan improves to 24-5 with a close win over Michigan State who falls to 22-7. The Wolverines exacted revenge for the loss at the Spartans last month, but it wasn't quite the trouncing they had hoped for.
The boys in maize and blue let a 10-point lead slip through their fingers and required some late game heroics by star point guard Trey Burke to rescue them.
Burke gambled with half a minute left on the clock and locked at 56 by picking the pocket of Keith Appling. Burke's steal and dunk put the Wolverines ahead by two and gave them a lead they wouldn't relinquish.
"I really wasn't pressuring him as hard as I felt like I could, the whole game," Burke said. "I tried to turn him as many times as possible. The one time I did turn him, he kept the ball out, so I just went after it. If I was going to miss it, then I was going to be out of the play."
With one final chance to tie or win with a three, Michigan State brought the ball up to the court and then seemed to flounder under tight defense. An ill-fated run up the left side and bad exchange led to a turnover, which wound up in the hands of who else, Trey Burke.
The result left a sting for the Spartans, who saw a halftime led evaporate into thin air. "I'm going to be kicking myself over that for as long as I'm playing basketball that I let that happen," Appling said. "I should've been more aware. I kind of looked to Coach Izzo to see if he wanted me to call timeout, I turned my head and took my eye off things."
It was a tough fought game on both ends, but one that played mostly into the Wolverine's hands who made a point to not let the more aggressive Spartans come in an bully them up the court.
I can only imagine the look on Tom Izzo's face on the bus ride home.