MSU Falls Short in Heavyweight Rivalry Clash at Michigan
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ANN ARBOR, Mich. --- Michigan State didn't play poorly, but it didn't have enough to take down one of the best teams in the country on the road.
The eighth-ranked Spartans fell short against No. 3 Michigan, 90-80, on Sunday evening during a physical, heavyweight battle between two in-state rivals. UM's Yaxel Lendeborg was the difference in this one, as he cashed in 27 points with five made three-pointers. Michigan State's Jeremy Fears Jr. had 22 points and nine assists. Jaxon Kohler had 23 points and eight rebounds.
This loss completes MSU's regular season at 25-6 overall and 15-5 during Big Ten play. The Wolverines wrapped it up at 29-2 and 19-1, respectively, comfortably taking the Big Ten crown.
The Spartans will now look to the Big Ten Tournament, where they will begin their run in the quarterfinal round this coming Friday night.
Game Recap
First Half
The start was chippy, to say the least. Fears was assessed a deadball technical foul for another backwards kick that was similar to the play he had at Minnesota earlier this year. UM's Aday Mara got a technical foul, too, after he shoved Michigan State's Carson Cooper after both went for a rebound (Mara got a flagrant called on him in the second half, as well). Michigan's Trey McKenney then got his own technical when he knocked the ball out of Jaxon Kohler's hands while he was trying to inbound the ball.
Things started out well. The Spartans scored the first five points of the game, but then Michigan quickly rattled off an 11-0 run to get the Crisler crowd going. Star Wolverines player Yaxel Lendeborg was involved a lot in the first half, he ended up hitting three threes and dropping 19 points by halftime.
Michigan led most of the time, but MSU was never able to let things get out of control for itself. The Wolverines generally were hovering around a two-possession lead or so, trying to box out the Spartans from ever truly getting momentum.
Michigan State's first big swing came towards the end of the first half, ratting off eight points in a row to take a four-point lead with less than two minutes remaining. UM responded with the final five points of the half, though, to take a 42-41 lead into the break. Kohler and Cooper were leading the way for MSU, scoring 12 and 11 points each, respectively.
Second Half
The shot-making to start the final 20 minutes was top-notch. Both offenses went back and forth, looking like the top two teams in the Big Ten this season. Michigan continued to enjoy a not-so-comfortable lead during the opening minutes, but a 9-2 surge from MSU put the visiting team out ahead, with that lead becoming four with about 13 minutes left.
It's never that simple against a team as good as the Wolverines, though. Michigan threw another haymaker right after it went down, scoring the next 11 points to suddenly go up by seven, which was two points shy of its biggest lead of the day.
Michigan State continued to try and fight back, getting the deficit within three points with less than four minutes to go. Lendeborg, who entered the game shooting 32.1% from three this season, then popped his fifth three of the game on six tries with 3:31 left to extend UM's lead back to six.
It just started to slip away from MSU from there. The Spartans' shots kept finding iron in crunch time, as Michigan pulled away for the victory.
A 2025 graduate from Michigan State University, Cotsonika brings a wealth of experience covering the Spartans from Rivals and On3 to his role as Michigan State Spartans Beat Writer on SI. At Michigan State, he was also a member of the world-renowned Spartan marching band for two seasons.
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