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Michigan Beats MSU 75-64, Advances To Big Ten Title Game

NEW YORK (AP/97.1 The Ticket) — Mo Wagner scored 14 of his 15 points after a dreadful first half and fifth-seeded Michigan moved within a game of its second straight Big Ten Tournament title with a 75-64 victory over top-seeded Michigan State in the conference semifinals Saturday, ending the No. 2 ranked Spartans' 13-game winning streak.

The Wolverines (27-7) will face the winner of Saturday's second Big Ten semifinal between Purdue and Penn State Sunday at 4:30 p.m. Michigan lost twice to the Boilermakers (27-5) this season, and beat the Nittany Lions (21-12) in their lone meeting of the year.

Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman and Zavier Simpson also had 15 for the No. 15 Wolverines, who were also the last team to beat Michigan State (29-4), when they did it on Jan. 13.

Michigan was just too balanced and quick for Michigan State, putting five players in double figures. Duncan Robinson added 13 points off the bench and Charles Matthews had 12.

The Spartans' chances of grabbing a No. 1-seed in the NCAA Tournament took a huge blow, while the Wolverines are trending upward.

Miles Bridges had 17 points to lead Michigan State before fouling out late. Jaren Jackson Jr. added 13 and Cassius Winston had 11, but they only crossed into double figures with the Michigan band revving the Maize and Blue faithful at Madison Square Garden with yet another version of "Hail To The Victors."

This was a rivalry game that both teams wanted and it showed in the opening minutes. There were two scrums after hard fouls, a technical foul was called against the Spartans' forward Nick Ward and referee Gene Steratore — yeah, the guy who ran the Super Bowl — lectured both Tom Izzo of Michigan State and John Beilein of Michigan after the nonsense. And that was just in the opening 4:24.

Michigan trailed 29-26 at the half, but used a 10-2 burst to open the second half and take a 36-31 lead it never lost.

Wagner, who was 0 for 7 in the first 20 minutes had three baskets and a free throw, with a drive to the hoop seemingly getting him going.

BIG PICTURE

Michigan: Hitting stride late once again. It won the conference last year as the No. 8 seed.

Michigan State: Played well for roughly 20 minutes in two tournament games.

UP NEXT

Michigan: Play in the title game against the winner of the game between third-seeded Purdue and seventh-seeded Penn State.

Michigan State: Finds out who it is playing in the NCAA Tournament.

 

© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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