In what was a true throttling, the Michigan men's basketball team beat Michigan State 69-50 Thursday night, earning itself the outright Big Ten regular season title. Following a cagey first 17 minutes, an elbow from Michigan State's Aaron Henry to Franz Wagner sparked a 9-2 run to end the half for the Wolverines. Michigan never looked back from this run, earning a double-digit lead it would never relinquish.
For a variety of reasons, Michigan failed to take advantage in the first half, and a second-half collapse led to a 76-53 loss. One glaring cause, though, was Dickinson’s all-too-frequent presence on the Wolverines’ bench due to foul trouble.
With March Madness fast approaching, Michigan looks the part of a team that will be playing on the first Monday night in April.
BLOOMINGTON — Franz Wagner stepped up to the foul line. Then, he did it again. And again.
The sophomore wing looked like he could do anything he wanted against his defender — and he knew it. Penetrating the outer membrane of Indiana’s defense, Wagner was either finishing at the rim or creating enough contact to earn his points from 15 feet out. By the second TV timeout, he had gone 5-of-5 from the charity stripe and scored ten points.
It was utterly inconsequential in the grand scheme of things.
The Michigan men’s basketball team was already leading by 20 points when sophomore wing Franz Wagner slashed across the lane and flipped up a runner over the outstretched hand of an Iowa defender. It fell to put the Wolverines up 22. Again, with just over a minute remaining, the basket bordered on trivial.
Chaundee Brown has been a key contributor for the Wolverines from his sixth-man role all season, but he kicked it up a notch in this past weekend's clash with No. 4 Ohio State. Brown was confident heading into the matchup, and it showed on the court, as he scored 15 points and grabbed two key offensive rebounds late in the matchup.
The animosity between Michigan and Ohio State provided added motivation for the Wolverines in a 92-87 win on Sunday.
There are no easy games in the Big Ten Conference, but the Michigan men’s basketball team can make it seem like there are.
It didn’t look like the same tenacious, sound Michigan defense that was on display through the first 14 games. The team that emerged from the locker room minutes later though, did.
Michigan notched a statement win over key conference opponent Wisconsin in its return to play after the COVID hiatus.