In the biggest game of the season thus far, Michigan State came to Ann Arbor and dealt Michigan its first home loss. All-American point guard Cassius Winston was the best player on the floor: his 27-point, 8-assist performance emphatically rejected the notion that Zavier Simpson was his kryptonite. State scored 1.24 points per possession, by far the highest output allowed by Michigan's normally excellent defense. After a high-octane first half, both teams settled in, but State was able to go on one of its impressive second half runs. Over a seven-and-a-half minute stretch, the Spartans outscored the Wolverines 17-4. Michigan didn't have the firepower to mount a comeback.

Michigan State is without four starters from last season’s team — two left for the NBA and two have been injured — but there’s been little drop-off, if any. Tom Izzo handed the keys of the offense to Winston, and consequently, State has one of the best offenses in the country. Winston was superb today: Michigan hedged ball screens aggressively all game, and Winston was patient and consistently made the right play. Winston’s passing against an over-extended defense opened up good looks for the Spartan role players, and they delivered. Kenny Goins, Xavier Tillman, and Matt McQuaid combined for 43 points, and they all played solid defense.

Winston’s play was essential to State’s victory, but Michigan kept pace for a while and actually threatened to build a substantial lead in the second half. Michigan State switched all ball screens, and the Wolverines were able to effectively attack that look for a while. Eventually State tightened up, and instead of pulling away from Michigan with their customary flurry of threes and transition buckets, their defense fueled a slow climb into a comfortable lead. Michigan’s offense stagnated, and State’s mismatched defenders won their one-on-one battles for most of the second half. The Wolverines’ eight combined assists were one away from tying their season low, and while Simpson scored a team-high 19 points for Michigan, he had more turnovers (3) than assists (2).

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The first half was a track meet. Both teams gave up good looks, and both offenses took advantage. Goins knocked down a couple of early threes; State frequently had him set a screen from Winston, and then spot up from near the top of the key — he also attacked closeouts and had 13 first half points. State led 27-20 halfway through the fhalf, but a quick 8-0 run put Michigan back into the lead. Teske was quite active on the offensive glass against State’s scrambled defense, and Simpson knocked down a few threes. Both teams scored efficiently in the first half, and State held a slim 39-37 at the break after McQuaid hit a three over a flopping Jordan Poole and Tillman got out in transition and hit two free throws.

Winston had a few nice plays to start the second half (a beautiful floater, two free throws after attacking Teske, and a tough shot over Simpson), but Michigan’s defense — which had tightened since about midway through the first half — forced State into some tough looks for a while. Meanwhile, Ignas Brazdeikis got going: he drove on Aaron Henry and scored two at the free throw line, knocked down all three free throw attempts after getting fouled by McQuaid, and threw down a two-handed dunk after driving baseline on a Goins closeout. That dunk put Michigan up 51-45 and prompted an Izzo timeout. Michigan scored 14 points before the first TV timeout, but would go ice cold from there.

From there, both teams missed a ton of threes — they combined to shoot 2-22 in the second half, and State didn’t make a single one — but Winston was able to create good looks and Michigan wasn’t. As the Spartans went on their decisive run, they held the Wolverines to just one made basket (a Simpson layup) over 13 possessions. Michigan had carless turnovers, missed threes, some of which were open, and contested shots near the basket that didn’t go in. By the time the Wolverines finally created a good look with Teske scoring on a layup off a back screen, State had opened up a modest lead. Michigan’s aggressive ball screen defense started to concede quality shots again, as State made the right reads and moved the ball. They also took care of the ball: their six turnovers were a season low.

Campredon

The Spartans responded to that Teske basket with a Tillman post-up — he sealed Teske and threw down an easy dunk. Michigan trailed 64-57 with about five minutes left and couldn’t string together enough scores and stops to close the deficit. McQuaid made a couple of key plays — he got a baseline jumper to rattle in after a great defensive possession by Michigan, and extended another after coming away from a scrum with an offensive rebound. Much like in Michigan’s win in East Lansing last season, the home team spent quite a bit of time fouling; Winston knocked down nine of ten free throws over the last two minutes of the game. Jordan Poole knocked down two late threes (the first threes made by either team that half), but State stayed one step ahead and wound up dribbling out the win.

Despite the attrition, State came away with a vital result in the Big Ten title race with an upset on their rival’s home floor. MVP chants from the visiting fans rang out as Winston sealed the game from the free throw line, and he deserved them. His performance was the story of the day, and Zavier Simpson and the Wolverines will have a chance at revenge when Michigan travels to East Lansing for the rematch in two weeks.

[Box score after the JUMP]