jaden akins

On an evening filled with heavy hearts, solidarity, and loads of emotion, the two in-state rivals Michigan and Michigan State did battle at Crisler Center in Ann Arbor on Saturday night and for one of the only times this season, it was clutch late plays from the Wolverines that won out. Michigan scored the game's final 12 points to break a late tie and emerge victorious thanks to a combination of clutch perimeter shots and the late dominance of Tarris Reed Jr. inside. The Wolverines got just enough stops despite playing the final 14:09 without Jett Howard, shouldering in-game adversity to get a big rivalry win. 

The opening stretch of the first half saw plenty of offense, with two main storylines dominating. For Michigan State, it was their evisceration of Will Tschetter's defense. Tschetter was forced into the starting lineup again due to the lingering injury to Terrance Williams II and Michigan State presented a matchup nightmare for Tschetter, a limited defensive player. Michigan had surrendered 15 points in just six minutes when Tschetter came off the floor for the first time, but thankfully for the home crowd, their side was not left in the dust by MSU's offensive outburst.

That would be because of Dug McDaniel, who dazzled early on. He scored Michigan's first seven points on a two point jumper, a three point jumper, and fast-break layup created by his steal. Jett Howard began to join in, as did Kobe Bufkin, and Michigan was able to match MSU's offense blow for blow for the first 10 minutes of the game. That's when the Spartans began to get a bit of separation, going on a 9-2 run to grab the game's biggest lead, 33-25, with 3:59 remaining in the half. Michigan's offense had entered a rut, the defense was still leaking all over the place, but they managed to pull it together, closing the half on an 8-3 run to go to the break down just three. That 36-33 halftime score felt like a mini-victory for Juwan Howard's team, with the game teetering on potential collapse before that late surge. 

[Marc-Gregor Campredon]

Tschetter, who scored zero points in the first half, made his first bucket of the game early in the second half, closing the lead to 42-41. A few minutes later, Jett Howard's pull-up jumper from two point range tied it at 46. Howard came down awkwardly, appearing to suffer a leg injury, and he laid on the floor in pain for an extended time before being helped to the bench. Howard would not play again the remainder of the game, a blow to an already-shorthanded Michigan team missing Williams too. Michigan was going to need other players to step up, and they got that. 

Michigan State jumped back ahead by four, then layups by Joey Baker and Tschetter tied it. McDaniel, who had gone quiet for awhile, started to pick it back up and take control of the offense, pulling Michigan to within one, 56-55, halfway through the second stanza. The Spartans would use an abbreviated 5-0 spurt to go up 63-57 with 8:23 to go when Howard called timeout to settle down the troops, another potential swing point. Again Michigan had an answer. 

Baker hit a three right out of the timeout and on the next time down the floor he'd miss a three that Tarris Reed Jr. would put back for an and-one. Reed connected on the free throw and the game was tied at 63. This was the moment when the story of the game became the dominance of Tarris Reed. With the struggles of Tschetter at the four, Howard decided to run with the Twin Towers of Reed and Dickinson late, Dickinson floating around the perimeter and whipping the ball around inside the arc while Reed was feasting inside using his size and strength to exploit matchup advantages. 

[Marc-Gregor Campredon]

Dickinson would hit two free throws to put Michigan up 67-65 with 4:20 left, but MSU's Joey Hauser scored a 2nd-chance bucket to tie it. Dickinson uncorked a brilliant spin-layup, but Reed fouled Houser, who made both bonus free throws. 69-69. Michigan went up the floor and Dickinson fed Reed the ball, who fumbled it at first, regained possession of the loose ball, and finished through contact on a layup, dragging Spartans with him. He hilariously banked in the ensuing and-one free throw and Michigan led 72-69. MSU wasn't done, though. Guard Tyson Walker took the Spartans up the floor and swished a step-back three to tie it at 72. 

72-72 is where things sat with 2:29 remaining in the game and the collective feeling of the Michigan fanbase was something like "well, are we gonna blow it again?". The answer, as it turned out, was no. Kobe Bufkin hit the biggest shot of the game, an improbable three after fumbling the ball just moments earlier late in the shot clock, to put Michigan ahead 75-72. Hauser had the ball for MSU on the next possession, guarded by the smaller Kobe Bufkin, and Reed arrived in help defense as Hauser went up with the shot. That shot was met by a thundering swat from Reed and Michigan now had the lead and the ball. 90 seconds left.

The ultimate dagger came just after this sequence. Dug McDaniel dribbled inside the arc and at the same time, Dickinson was stepping out. McDaniel saw Dickinson, flipped him the ball, and Dickinson swished the three. 78-72 Wolverines with just 1:07 to go. Walker came out of the timeout attempting another pull-up three and he bricked this one, rebounded down by Baker with 48 seconds left and he was fouled. Baker went to the line and swished them both, putting Michigan up by eight and the game was more or less finished. One more stop-and-foul sequence put it fully out of reach and the Wolverines had finally won a close game late that meant something. 

[Marc-Gregor Campredon]

There were several heroes for Michigan tonight but the two biggest may well have been the freshmen, McDaniel and Reed. Dug kept Michigan afloat in the first half, gave them a key spurt in the middle of the second, and made the pass to set up the dagger. He led the team with 18 on 6/10 from the field and crucially, he was a respectable 5/7 from two. He also was 5/6 from the free throw line, had four rebounds, four assists, and zero turnovers. Oh, and Dug played 39 minutes(!). As for Reed, he only had eight points, but all eight came in the final seven minutes. When we talk about this team needing players to step up in the clutch, Tarris did exactly that. He snatched 10 rebounds in 24 minutes, provided effective defense, doubly so when you remember he was replacing Tschetter. Reed was the answer that got this game to the finish line. 

Dickinson and Bufkin were two heroes who were pretty steady throughout, Kobe providing 17 and Hunter 14. Both played 33+ minutes and were vital. Jett Howard had 10 points before injury, but on an ugly 3/9 FG and 1/7 3PT clip. Joey Baker played a big role after the Howard injury, scoring 10 on 3/6 from the floor and 2/5 from three for the game. Baker did his job. Tschetter did have seven in the second half, but the warts in his game were also on full display. As for MSU, Hauser was excellent with 20 points, while Malik Hall and Tyson Walker each scored in double figures and Jaden Akins added a spectacular ThunderDunk in the second half. 

Michigan is now 15-12 on the season and 9-7 in the B1G, with just four games to play. They are tied with MSU and Rutgers at 9-7, a half-game up on 8-7 Illinois and a half-game behind 9-6 Maryland and 9-6 Iowa. Michigan will be back at it on Thursday night in Piscataway, NJ, against the Rutgers Scarlett Knights, a tough test and one of the only teams in the conference Michigan has not yet seen. That game is scheduled for 8:30 PM EST and will be broadcast on FS1. 

[Click the JUMP for the box score]

While Michigan's 2021-22 roster is mostly set, the same can't be said for much of the Big Ten—or, really, most programs in the country between a packed transfer portal, the pandemic year option for seniors to return without counting against the scholarship cap, and up-in-the-air NBA Draft decisions.

There's been a lot of movement over the last few days, including this morning's announcement that Northwestern shooter Miller Kopp is transferring within the conference to Indiana. This week, I'll be going over where each Big Ten program's roster stands in alphabetical order, and I'll rank each team's current outlook at the end. Here are some important dates to keep in mind as players make decisions about their future:

• May 30: Last day to apply for NBA Draft as an early entry
• June 21-27: NBA Draft Combine
• July 19: Last day for early entry to withdraw from NBA Draft

I made sure to note which players intend to sign with an agent, making them ineligible to withdraw, and which have left the door open to come back to school. I've also noted which players are in the transfer portal—which, as Indiana has displayed, doesn't prevent a return—and which have chosen another school. Returning seniors able to use the COVID waiver for an extra year are referred to as "super seniors."

Illinois

Key departures: G Ayo Dosunmu (draft w/ agent), F Giorgi Bezhanishvili (draft or overseas), W Adam Miller (transfer)
Key additions/super seniors: G Trent Frazier (super senior), C Omar Payne (Florida transfer), G Alfonso Plummer (Utah transfer)
Up in the air: C Kofi Cockburn (draft w/o agent), W Da'Monte Williams (possible super senior)

The Illini are going to look very different next season. Ayo Dosunmu is hiring an agent for the draft and won't be back. Kofi Cockburn also isn't expected to return after declaring over the weekend—it's rare for a player to return when they test the draft waters a second time, which is the case with Cockburn. Giorgi Bezhanishvili is going to the professional ranks too, though his role diminished in conjunction with Cockburn's emergence.

In a surprise move, former top-50 recruit Adam Miller entered the transfer portal despite starting all 31 games as a freshman. He hasn't said much since entering the portal and has been connected with Arizona, DePaul, Kentucky, and Michigan, though that seems largely based on his recruitment out of high school. He showed promise as a spot-up shooter and defender.

Brad Underwood added another former top-50 recruit in Florida transfer Omar Payne, who's mostly come off the bench in his first two seasons and was passed by Michigan transfer Colin Castleton in 2020-21. Payne blocks a lot of shots but is still quite raw; not that this is a fair comparison, but he won't come close to replicating Cockburn's production. (He may, however, try to take someone's head off.) Illinois needs big leaps from sophomores Coleman Hawkins and Jacob Grandison to have an above-average frontcourt as things stand; they're a strong candidate to hit the transfer portal for another big.

Getting Trent Frazier back for a fifth year helped shore up a backcourt that'll dearly miss Dosunmu, as did this weekend's addition of Utah grad transfer Alfonso Plummer, a 6'1 guard who's a career 40% three-point shooter on high volume and a teammate of Illini guard Andre Curbelo on the Puerto Rico national team. That helps offset the loss of Miller on offense and then some, though the undersized Plummer is unlikely to match him as a defender—his defensive metrics from Utah aren't good.

The Illini don't have much in the way of instant-impact freshmen unless someone plays above their ranking. The three-player 2021 class is headlined by a pair of 6'7 small forwards who both slipped just inside the top 100 on the 247 Composite, though recent three-star SG signee Brandon Podziemski has significantly differing opinions on his talent after posting huge numbers against underwhelming Wisconsin high school competition.

It's hard not to see this team taking a significant step back in 2022. There isn't another Dosunmu or Cockburn coming in, or even an Adam Miller. The next couple years of Underwood's tenure may make or break his time in Champaign.

[Hit THE JUMP for Indiana's wild offseason, Iowa's rough one, MSU's impact transfer, and more.]

Michigan continues to strike out with Plan A guards for 2021, but may be on the verge of getting serious with a few highly touted alternatives. A summary of where we’re at for 2021, encouraging news in 2022 and more in the roundup below.

Jaden Akins to Announce Today

Commiting on Thursday at 3pm