Previewing Michigan Basketball's Last Regular Season Game Against Michigan State

The 3rd ranked 28-2 Michigan Wolverines will play the 8th ranked 25-5 Michigan State Spartans at home this Sunday afternoon. Michigan is coming off a close, hard-fought win over Iowa, while Michigan State is coming off a similarly close game against Rutgers. This matchup will be the second time these two teams have played so far this year with the Wolverines winning round 1 on the road by a score of 83-71 back on January 30th. Since then, Michigan lose a non-conference game against Duke but has won their other games while Michigan State has lost to Minnesota and Wisconsin but won their other six games. This version of the matchup will be at the Crisler Center in Ann Arbor though, so at least on paper, Michigan should have an easier road to a win in this one. Let's dive more into this matchup below.

Michigan State Spartans

Michigan State is 7th in the Big Ten in scoring offense, 5th in the Big Ten in shooting percentage from the field, 6th in 3-point shooting percentage, 2nd in offensive rebounds per game, 3rd in assists, and 14th in turnovers. Michigan State remains a good offense but is not an elite one. In particular, their lack of 3-point shooting has really hamstrung this offense all year. Combining that with their turnover issues has been tough for them to overcome against the best teams on their schedule.

Defensively is where Michigan State really shines, as they rank 3rd in the Big Ten in limiting opponent scoring, 3rd in limiting opponent shooting percentage, 7th in limiting their opponents 3-point shooting percentage, 3rd in defensive rebounding, 14th in steals, and 5th in blocks. Their defense is their team identity, and they're very good at it overall. They did seem to be a bit overmatched by the size of Michigan's front court the last time they played so it will be interesting to see what Tom Izzo does differently this time around.

Individually, Michigan State is led by Big Ten Player of the Year candidate Jeremy Fears Jr. at point guard, who scores on average 15.3 points per game. He's followed by Jaxon Kohler at 12.5, Coen Carr at 11.7, and Carson Cooper at 10.4. Michigan State's offense tends to go as far as Fears takes them and this game will likely be no different. While he had good individual stats the last time he played Michigan, the rest of Michigan State's offense went cold and Michigan was able to hold them to 71 points total. The Spartans will need the rest of the team to play better offensively if they hope to go one the road and beat this Michigan team.

Michigan Wolverines

Michigan offensively is 1st in the Big Ten in scoring average per game, 1st in shooting percentage from the field, 3rd in 3-point shooting percentage, 7th in offensive rebounds, 2nd in assists, and 16th in turnovers. Michigan's only real Achilles heel offensively has been the turnovers, and it really flared up against Iowa. Michigan struggled with Iowa's high pressure defense and coughed it up 16 times in that game alone. Michigan State isn't quite as good defensively as Iowa, but they will undoubtedly look to replicate that success against this high-powered Michigan offense.

On defense, Michigan is arguably even better than their elite offense. They are 5th in the Big Ten in limiting opponents scoring, 1st in opponent shooting percentage from the field, 1st in opponent 3-point shooting percentage, 1st in defensive rebounding, 9th in steals, and 1st in blocks. Michigan's defense is likely among the top two in the country, along with Duke, so scoring efficiently on this team has been a very tall task for everyone they've played this year. They'll need another great defensive performance in this game with Fears controlling Michigan State's offense on the other side.

Individually, Michigan is led in scoring by Yaxel Lendborg at 14.3 points per game, followed by Morez Johnson Jr. at 13.5, Aday Mara at 11.5, and Elliot Cadeau at 10.1. They have lost LJ Cason for the season to a torn ACL, so their rotation is one man shorter than it was the last time these two teams played however. Michigan has only had one full game without Cason and their offense did struggle a bit more than anticipated against Iowa's defense.

The first time these two played, they were also both ranked in the top 10 nationally and Michigan went into East Lansing and came out with a double digit win. This time they play again in Ann Arbor so you have to feel good about Michigan's chances in this game. I think Michigan gets it done here to wrap up conference play but make no mistake, Michigan State will come into Ann Arbor and give it their all to try to get the upset win. It should be a great game once again between these two teams and it'll be interesting to see what each coach does differently from the first time they played.