Game of the Week: Michigan vs Michigan State

One of the great rivalries returns as No. 3 Michigan takes on No. 7 Michigan State. Both teams have 19 wins going into the game, and both teams have played at an elite level this season. Both of these teams have championship material, but who comes out on top for this matchup on Friday?

Michigan

The Wolverines are led by Yaxel Lendeborg who has an average of 14.2 points per game this season. Morez Johnson Jr. leads the team with 7.2 rebounds per game and Elliot Cadeau leads with 5.3 assists per game. Michgan’s only loss came earlier this month against Wisconsin. The Wolverines also faced a tough matchup against No. 5 Nebraska just before this game will be played. Some other close shave include Wake Forest, TCU, and Penn State.

Perhaps the game against Nebraska provides the closest preview to Michigan’s ability to face tough teams like Michigan State. After all, the Wolverines only beat the Cornhuskers by three points, 75-72. Lendeborg, Johnson Jr., and Trey McKenney led the team with points. McKenney also led points off of the bench which does showcase the depth that the Wolverines have should they be in foul trouble. If the Spartans want to win, they will look to contain the three-point shots of Johnson Jr. and Mara though. Johnson Jr. went 5-6 from the three point line while Mara went 4-4. Lendeborg went 3-10, so that might indicate that he is have some issues on the three point shot, which is not good for the Wolverines going into this game. Johnson was also a problem for Nebraska in rebounds with 12.

Possibly the areas where Michigan needs the most improvements coming out of the Nebraska game are assists and turnovers. These will be key for Michigan to win in this game or their downfall. Michigan did amazing on rebounds against Nebraska and did a good job on creating turnovers (more on that later.)

Players to watch: Yaxel Lendeborg, Morez Johnson Jr., Trey McKenney

Michigan State

The Spartans are led by Jeremy Fears Jr. who averages 14.1 points per game and 8.9 assists per game. Jaxon Kohler averages 9.3 rebounds per game. The Spartans actually lost to Nebraska earlier this month, 58-56, so we’ll compare how the Spartans faired in that contest in a second. The other loss the Spartans had was to Duke in December, 66-60. Other close shaves include Arkansas, Penn State, and Oakland.

Let’s circle back to that Nebraska game since that is the common denominator here. Kohler and Fears Jr. were not surprisingly the problems for the Cornhuskers in this game. Kohler had 19 points and 11 rebounds. He went 5-6 on threes, which could indicate a problem for Michigan should he get loose like this. Overall, he was also 7-10 on the field, so Kohler can really hit from anywhere on the court and consistently. For Fears Jr., he scored 14 points and had seven assists, but zero rebounds. So while Kohler does a great job of getting the ball back, Fears Jr. does a great job setting up scoring plays. Another player that popped off in the game was Kur Teng, who scored 12 points and had five rebounds.

Still, turnovers were a problem for the Spartans as they had 21 against Nebraska. Relative to the points scored, Michigan State did seem to do a better job with assists, mainly led by Fears Jr. Michigan State was also able to out rebound Nebraska which could come into play against Michigan. Yet, there was not a lot of turnovers from Nebraska so that may not be Michigan State’s strong suit (at least when comparing against a team they both faced.) Michigan was able to create more turnovers against Nebraska so that might be something to watch in this game if Michigan State will struggle with ball security.

Players to watch: Jaxon Kohler, Jeremy Fears Jr., Kur Teng

Game prediction: Although both teams are impressive with some flaws, I do think Michigan has a tough time closing out some games and I think Michigan State will win this game, especially since they are on their home court.

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