The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1543210
62 THE WOLVERINE ❱ MARCH 2026 BY CHRIS BALAS F or the first time since 2018, Michi- gan basketball won at Michigan State, beating the Spartans, 83-71, in a battle for first place in the Big Ten Jan. 30. The Wolverines sprinted to an early 18-point lead, kept it at 16 at the half, went down by two in the second half and then rallied to stun MSU and coach Tom Izzo in front of a raucous Breslin Center crowd. It was arguably the Wolverines' best showing since early January and a 96- 66 win over USC in which head coach Dusty May argued even then Michigan didn't play its best. It was also the cata- lyst for a couple more dominant wins in second meetings with opponents, a 110-69 victory over a Penn State team the Wolverines had only beaten by two in Happy Valley and an 82-61 win at Ohio State. With those two victories, Michigan stood alone atop the Big Ten as of Feb. 10 with a 12-1 conference record. Illinois (11-2), Nebraska (10-2), MSU (10-3), Purdue (9-3), and UCLA (9-4) were all within striking distance along with 8-4 Wisconsin and Iowa, and the Wolver- ines still have to play all of them minus the Cornhuskers and Wisconsin. U-M fended off a shorthanded but scrappy Nebraska team, 75-72, at home Jan. 27, but suffered its only loss to the Badgers Jan. 10. All eyes were on the Jan. 30 game in East Lansing when the No. 3 Wolverines traveled to take on No. 7 MSU, and Michigan came out swing- ing. It started in the pregame, when May took the court long before the game only to find a portion of the MSU student section in the building. They harassed and jeered him, and it only got worse when he took a seat on the seats in front of them. "I was actually just taking a peek," May explained. "When we pulled in … the students were still lined up down the block, and even when we rode in at the Kalamazoo Street entrance there's a long line … I saw the students [and said], 'OK — they're not in yet.' " B u t t h i s b u i l d i n g . T h i s i s b i g time. There's a lot of anticipation for this game. I walked by, and I was greeted. As soon as I stuck my head out on the court, I was like, 'There's no way I'm ducking and running from this smoke now.'" His team responded for him. Michi- gan would run to a 10-2 lead and push it to 20-7 at the 8:52 mark. The Spar- tans cut the lead to 5 points at 24-19 before U-M responded again with a ❱ MICHIGAN BASKETBALL Hoopsters Are In Pole Position Heading Down The Big Ten Stretch Freshman guard Trey McKenney (1) had 12 points and sophomore forward Morez Johnson Jr. (21) added 11 in the Feb. 8 win against Ohio State. Johnson also registered a dozen rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL ASSOCIATED PRESS TOP 25 As of Feb. 9, 2026 1. Arizona (59 first-place votes) 2. Michigan 3. Houston 4. Duke 5. Iowa State 6. UConn 7. Nebraska 8. Illinois 9. Kansas 10. Michigan State 11. North Carolina 12. Gonzaga 13. Purdue 14. Florida 15. Virginia 16. Texas Tech 17. St. John's 18. Saint Louis 19. Vanderbilt 20. Clemson 21. Arkansas 22. BYU 23. Miami (Ohio) 24. Louisville 25. Kentucky