MEET YOUR ’MAKERS
MICHIGAN 75 MICHIGAN STATE 64
The state of Michigan invaded Madison Square Garden on Saturday afternoon, but Mo Wagner was nowhere to be found early.
Michigan’s 6-foot-11 junior forward was, in fact, on the court in the first half of the Big Ten Tournament semifinal against Michigan State, but he didn’t crack the scoreboard until late, and it was on just one made free throw.
But Wagner broke his spell in time to send the Wolverines back to the championship game for the second year in a row.
Wagner’s early second-half surge gave Michigan a lead it never gave up, and the Wolverines knocked off the top-seeded Spartans, 75-64, in front of a roaring sellout crowd of 19,812.
“To be honest with you, I didn’t really care, you just keep playing,” Wagner said of his slow start. “Be solid defensively and do your job defensively and rebound the basketball, the game will reward you.”
The fifth-seeded Wolverines will get to defend their title on Sunday, when they will face third-seeded Purdue, who outlasted Penn State 78-70 Saturday night. By denying Michigan State a chance to win its third title in six years — and potentially a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament — Michigan will try to capture back-to-back Big Ten championships for the first time in program history.
After Wagner finally ended his drought and scored his first field goal of the game 2:26 into the second half, he scored again on two of the next three possessions.
“I told him, this is my great motivation at halftime, ‘Hey Mo, are you going to make a shot? Because right now you’re stinking the place up. Just make one shot,’ ” Wolverines coach John Beilein joked. “He just smiled: ‘Yes, coach, I can do that.’ ”
By the end of Wagner’s awakening, the Wolverines led 36-31.
“Obviously that’s a lot of fun,” said Wagner, who finished with 15 points and eight rebounds. “When the Garden goes crazy like that, you kind of feel the relief after the first basket. Finally, something went in.”
The Spartans got as close as two points twice after that, but Michigan extended its lead late to secure a season sweep of its in-state foe in the second Big Ten Tournament meeting between the programs.
The Wolverines entered the doublebonus with 2:32 left and made enough from the charity stripe to fend off a comeback. Michigan State star Miles Bridges (17 points) fouled out with 1:34 left and those in the crowd wearing maize and blue rose to their feet in anticipation of a return trip to the final.
The Spartans had won 13 straight coming into Saturday since losing to Michigan on Jan. 13. They can only hope the latest setback sparks a similar run in the NCAA Tournament.
“The one thing that I would remind everybody, this team [had] won [13] games in a row and won 29 games this season,” Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. “And through some trying times, and I think that I’m going to appreciate a lot. … I’m going to keep that in mind, not panic over a loss when it’s your rival.”
It didn’t take long for the rivals to reintroduce themselves hundreds of miles away from where they usually meet. In the first five minutes alone, tempers flared in two separate dust-ups underneath the Michigan State basket with players having to be separated.
“It’s always personal when it’s a rivalry,” said lockdown defender Zavier Simpson, who was right in the middle of the second scuffle. “It’s bigger than yourself.”