MSU took a 13-8 lead at the 11:45 mark, but when a three from Trice ended an 0-for-5 team start from deep, the Spartans began to put on a show. Two more threes from Trice and one from junior guard Bryn Forbes pushed MSU to a 24-10 lead.

As MSU began to distance itself, freshman guard Lourawls “Tum Tum” Nairn hit a three for the second straight game with the shot-clock expiring.

Trice continued his stellar play, finishing with a shifty drive to the hoop and then feeding senior forward Branden Dawson with back-to-back lobs, and all of a sudden, it was 33-14.

"Trice did a nice job pushing the ball tonight," Izzo said. "He had that one stretch where he got Dawson a couple of dunks and a layup, those things are big. We gotta get easy buckets and that’s how you shoot 62 percent.

MSU's five first half three-pointers were the turning point, Izzo said.

“Obviously I thought the difference in the game was in the first half," Izzo said. "We made shots and they didn’t make them. They had shots, I thought our defense was good, I didn’t think it was great. I thought they had some shots that they missed, and boy I’ve been in that position before."

The Spartans began the second half with a 38-23 lead, but U-M freshman guard Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman opened the half with a bang. He scored his team’s first 10 points and single-handedly willed the Crisler crowd back into the game.

Dawson and sophomore forward Gavin Schilling carried MSU early in the half, with the two combining for MSU’s first eight points of the half. Trice’s fourth three of the game put MSU up 53-37 at the 13:06 mark.

As the half wore on, U-M’s interior post defense was almost non-existent. Costello worked the lane for a couple wide open scores, and by the 6:34 mark, MSU regained a comfortable 64-47 lead.

Crisler Center began to empty out, but the Wolverines on the floor did all they could to stay in the game. Junior guard Spike Albrecht and sophomore guard/forward Zak Irvin hit threes down the stretch, and at the 2:33 mark, two free throws from freshman guard Aubrey Dawkins cut MSU’s lead to 10.

Allowing U-M to hang around didn't sit well with Izzo.

"I didn’t think we closed out very well at all and in fact I actually thought we made some ridiculous errors," Izzo said. 

"We weren’t disciplined enough. So that’ll give us some good coaching points hopefully down the stretch here.”

MSU’s seniors were the stars, and Izzo called their play "phenomenal". Dawson finished with a season-high 23 points and 12 rebounds, good for his eighth double-double in Big Ten play. Trice finished with 22 points and seven assists.

Notables in the crowd included former Wolverines Jordan Morgan, Nik Stauskas, and Glenn Robinson III. Additionally, former Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston was in attendance.