Takeaways from Michigan's Second Win Over Michigan State

Michigan outlasted Michigan State to win the rematch by a score of 90 to 80. The win propels Michigan to a 29-2 record through the end of the Big Ten regular season. They won the Big Ten by multiple games, and now will enter the Big Ten Tournament after closing out a dominant regular season with a second win over their rival Michigan State Spartans. Sweeping this top 10 nationally ranked Michigan State team is a very impressive feat and this Wolverines basketball team has been piling up the accolades all season long. Let's dive more into the takeaways for this game below.

Yaxel Lendeborg is the best player in the Big Ten

Yexal Lendeborg is in the middle of a Big Ten Player of the Year race and boy did he show up in this game. With Aday Mara and Morez Johnson Jr. in foul trouble for a lot of this game, Yaxel Lendeborg carried the Wolverines for most of the game. He ended up with 27 total points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists. He shot it well from deep, he got to the rim, and he played excellent defense all game long. Quite simply, he's the best player in the Big Ten and his performance in this game should cement him as the favorite for the Big Ten Player of the Year award.

Michigan is very susceptible when the bigs are in foul trouble

Despite still being able to win this game, this has been a common theme for much of the year for the Wolverines. The games they get in the most trouble of losing are almost always ones where their big, imposing front line is in foul trouble and this game was a great example of that. Aday Mara and Morez Johnson Jr. were both in foul trouble for the majority of this game and it allowed the Spartans to attack the paint and stay in this game for longer than they should've. Mara in particular had a couple really dumb fouls in this game and both him and Morez Johnson Jr. need to do a better job of staying out of foul trouble if this team wants to make a deep NCAA Tournament run.

Michigan needs more from its guards

In games where Michigan's bigs get in foul trouble, their guards simply need to be more productive. Elliot Cadeau in particular was not very good in this game, as he finished with just 2 points, 2 assists, and 3 turnovers. With L.J. Cason out, Cadeau really needs to step up for Michigan. Other guards like Roddy Gayle and Trey McKenney have been playing better since losing Cason but Michigan needs to get more out of the point guard position. It's inevitable that once in a while Michigan's bigs will get in foul trouble and they need more from the guards to help them stay afloat when those games pop up.

Despite not playing a great game all around, Michigan was able to pull away late and sweep Michigan State for the first time since 2014. This team has been so impressive all season long and they wrapped up the regular season with a very impressive 29-2 record. No matter what happens next weekend in the Big Ten Tournament, Michigan has likely locked up a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament with this win. Now they'll have a few days to rest up and start preparing for the two tournaments they have yet to play this year and look to finish their season strong.