ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The Michigan Wolverines (16-12, 10-8 Big Ten) came into the month of March desperately needing a marquee win. A top-five team in the AP Preseason Poll, they were seen as a fringe tournament team by most NCAA analysts entering the final month of regular-season play.
When March rolls around, there is arguably no harder win to get than a Tom Izzo-coached Michigan State team, but that is exactly what Michigan did on Tuesday. Sophomore center Hunter Dickinson led the way with a career-high 33 points as Michigan cruised past their in-state rivals, 87-70.
Michigan stormed out to a double-digit lead, shooting over 90% from the floor in the first seven minutes. An 8-0 run near the end of the half put Michigan up 41-24. Their lead would never fall under double-digits the rest of the night.
Dickinson finished with a near double-double, adding 9 rebounds to his 33 points. Freshman Caleb Houstan continued his hot streak as of late, following Dickinson with 16 points.
This win puts Michigan in a fabulous position to make the tournament now. With wins over No. 8 Purdue and now MSU, it would take a major collapse and a lot of other magic to burst the Wolverines bubble.
Michigan Shoots the Lights Out
Michigan State wanted to push the ball up the floor as much as they could, even on made Michigan baskets. An early fastbreak layup by Gabe Brown after a Michigan make showed the up-tempo style they wanted to play.
However, Michigan made that as hard as possible with the success they had shooting the ball. The Wolverines shot 17-of-28 in the first half (61%), finishing the game shooting 58% as a team versus MSU’s 46%.
All those makes severely limited the Spartans’ ability to run the floor. They finished with just 9 fastbreak points.
Dickinson Shines, Houstan and Williams Thrive
Hunter Dickinson was clearly the biggest mismatch on the floor all night, carving up the MSU defense for 12 points in the first half and 21 points in the second. It did not matter what defensive assignment he drew; Julius Marble, Marcus Bingham, Mady Sissoko, or a combination of those guys, Dickinson got what he wanted on the block.
Caleb Houstan followed up his back-to-back career-high point totals with another solid performance, finishing with 16 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the field. After a rough start to the season from beyond the arc, he has found his rhythm as of late. After draining seven three-pointers in the last two games, he followed that up with a 2-for-2 performance against MSU.
Terrance Williams II had his best shooting performance of the season, finishing with 9 points on 3 makes out of 4 attempts from the three-point line.
 came into the month of March desperately needing a marquee win. A top-five team in the AP Preseason Poll, they were seen as a fringe tournament team by most NCAA analysts.){kind=link}