GHOST STORIES
No current MSU player has ever won at Michigan. Will that change tonight? Wolverines hope they have history on their side as Spartans visit Crisler
EAST LANSING — No one on Michigan State basketball’s roster has won at Michigan.
Not Malik Hall, whose freshman team in 2020 lost there.
Not A.J. Hoggard, whose freshman team in 2021 lost there. Nor Jaden Akins in 2022 or Tre Holloman in 2023.
Add another item to the Spartans’ late-season to-do list.
“We just gotta win road games now. So its both, to try and win on the road and trying to get a win there,” senior guard Tyson Walker, winless in two tries at Crisler Center, said after practice Thursday. “It’s not easy.”
MSU (16-9, 8-6 Big Ten) makes the return trip Saturday to Crisler to face the Wolverines for the second time this season. Tipoff is 8 p.m. (Fox) and comes 18 days after the Spartans blasted U-M, 81-62, on Jan. 30 at Breslin Center.
Izzo said his biggest concern is getting leadership and consistency from his veterans to string together back-to-back road wins, with the focus less about what has happened in the past — this year or any other season.
In a year when so much has gone wrong for Michigan basketball, head coach Juwan Howard could pick from several potential keys to the Wolverines continuing their Ann Arbor winning streak against Michigan State.
Michigan (8-17, 3-11 Big Ten) has never lost to MSU (16-9, 8-6 Big Ten) at Crisler Center in four games under Howard.
As he pointed out Friday, although each of his four winning squads were comprised of different players with different skill sets, there were common themes: Communication on defense, aggressive rebounding and knockdown shooting, to name a few.
Those weren’t the biggest in Howard’s mind, however. Instead, he went with a much simpler hope.
“Well, health,” Howard said, “health needs to go right. We’ve have always worked hard to do whatever we can to keep our players safe, but we’re dealing with a lot. We’re missing some guys because of health reasons. So good health is one of those you always want on your team.
“I know that speaks for not only me, but ev
ery college team this time of year . ... But at the same time, you’re always hoping you can have fresh bodies and everybody on your roster ready to go.”
It was a cryptic statement, considering the Wolverines haven’t had any notable health issues — point guard Dug McDaniel has been unable to play on the road but that’s an academic issue — and a follow-up did not illicit a direct response either.
Jace Howard missed U-M’s games at Nebraska and Illinois, while Youssef Khayat played just 2 minutes vs the ‘Huskers, but it’s unclear if that’s who Howard was talking about, given the two aren’t exactly major contributors: In a combined 18 games, they’re averaging 3.4 points per appearance.
“That’s a better question for Michigan medicine, or Michigan medical, I would say,” Howard said when asked who isn’t available. “We’ve had guys miss practice because of being sick, some being injured. We’re just hoping and praying we can have everyone ready to go tomorrow.”
Of course, even if the Wolverines were at perfect health, it would be tough to feel optimistic about their chances, given the stretch this season in which U-M has lost 12 of 14 games (and eight by double digits) and has trailed by at least 30 in each of its past two.
The Spartans, meanwhile, appear to be peaking, with wins in four of their past five, en route to a likely 26th straight NCAA tournament berth. Although MSU isn’t ranked in the polls, the advanced metrics — including Ken Pomeroy’s rankings (No. 15), Bart Torvik’s site (No. 15), ESPN’s BPI (No. 17) and, most importantly, the NCAA’s NET rankings (No. 21) — all seem to like Tom Izzo’s group.
No wonder: Michigan State is No. 7 in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.75) and No. 21 in allowed shooting percentage (40.1%). Once again, MSU’s guards are a strength, with Tyson Walker, on the midseason watchlist for the Naismith Award and one of 10 finalists for the Jerry West Award, and AJ Hoggard, who is one of just seven players in program history with both 1,000 points and 500 assists.
And then there’s Jaden Akins, who had a career-high 23 points (including seven 3-pointers) against the Wolverines in their previous meeting at Breslin Center. Howard lamented the Wolverines’ woes vs. Akins as one of the main reasons his team was blown out in the second half at Breslin last month after leading by as much as nine early.
Howard also pointed to Michigan’s inability to stop transition scoring. U-M allowed the Spartans to rack up 17 second-half transition points (after allowing just one in the first half) in its loss three weeks ago.
But the biggest reason for MSU’s resurgence, both in that game and in the second half of this season, is forward Malik Hall, according to Howard. The senior forward is averaging 15.8 points and 6.2 rebounds while shooting 59.4% from the floor and 57.1% on 3-pointers over his past 10 games.
“He’s a talented young man; can play inside, outside, he’s athletic, strong,” Howard said. “He’s been around college basketball for some time now, so he’s very familiar with different teams and coverages; he’s also confident within his skill set and doesn’t go away from what he does.
“He plays winning basketball to the fullest; he’s a good player.”
Howard had one more theme from the Wolverines’ previous triumphs at Crisler vs. the Spartans to draw upon: a raucous crowd that has acted as a “sixth man.”
In addition to the usual energy of the rivalry, the Crisler crowd will be decked out in a “maize-out,” and several previously successful U-M squads — chief among them, the 1964 and 1974 Big Ten title winners and the 1989 national title winners — will be honored before the game. Approximately 50-75 former players are expected to be on hand.
U-M will need that historical aura, playing against a team which, as Howard put it, “really doesn’t like us.”
“Very exciting upcoming weekend for Michigan basketball,” he said. “To have our alumni base, former players who’ve done some really special things here representing the university, the block M, the maize and blue; to be able to come back, feel that excitement and go back to the refreshing days of their time and all the special things they did for Michigan basketball.
“As a coach and former player, I get excited to see those folks who paved the way for me and many others. To celebrate them in a special way, I think it’s going to be a great weekend.”