The rivalry was supposedly back, but the MSU-Michigan basketball game sort of resembled the Spartans' dominance in the late '90s.
The Spartans' smothering defense, aggressive play and fearless on-court demeanor silenced the Wolverines 71-54 at Breslin Center on Saturday afternoon.
The win was MSU's second straight and it put the Spartans in a five-way tie for first place atop the Big Ten.
"That was a big win for us against a quality team," MSU head coach Tom Izzo said. "We got some points off our defense. We had some steals.
"I thought we did a pretty good job defensively because those four perimeter guys really have an offensive mind, and our guys didn't give them an inch."
MSU's daunting defense mirrored the days when the Spartans (7-7 overall, 2-1 Big Ten) were considered one of the nation's best. Bodies were diving on the floor, a handful of players were crashing the glass and Michigan (10-4, 1-2) wasn't able to get good looks at the basket.
U-M, which was forced to settled for many outside jumpers and heavily contested shots all afternoon, shot just 36.2 percent form the field - the worst for an MSU opponent all season. The Spartans assisted Michigan's carelessness with the basketball, forcing 22 turnovers, which turned into 22 points.
Only one Wolverine finished with double figures. Sophomore guard Daniel Horton led the charge with 20 points but was held to just a 5-for-15 shooting night and forced into six turnovers.
Dubbed U-M's "Mr. Everything" because he leads the team in points, rebounds and assists per game, Bernard Robinson Jr. finished with more turnovers than points (7-to-5) on a 2-for-8 shooting night.
"We struggled to score this afternoon," U-M head coach Tommy Amaker said. "I thought our turnovers were a big factor.
"I thought we competed and had it within striking distance at moments, but they were too tough today. They were the better team this afternoon."
One stretch that proved to be the difference in the game occurred late in the first half. After Horton hit a triple to give U-M a 19-16 lead with just more than 10 minutes to play, the Wolverines' offense froze. The Wolverines would only score four points in the next 10 minutes and only one basket, a layup by wing Lester Abram, came from the field.
"It was definitely a big step for us," senior center Jason Andreas said. "We got back on track with our defense and our rebounding, had a good time, had some smiles. If we continue to do that, we're going to continue to take steps in the right direction."
MSU, on the other hand, survived the scarce scoring drought by turning a one-point deficit into a nine-point lead before halftime. Paul Davis was a big part of that.
The sophomore center dropped in a game-high 22 points on 6-for-12 shooting. He also collected seven rebounds - four on the offensive glass.
Though Davis was the only Spartan in double digits, five other players scored at least seven points. Junior swingman Alan Anderson and sophomore guard Maurice Ager each dropped nine points - Ager also had a team-high eight rebounds - while Junior guards Chris Hill and Kelvin Torbert added eight a piece. Andreas scored a season-high seven while adding five boards.
The Spartans shot 54.8 percent for the game (23-for-42) including a dominating 66.7 percent in the second half. It was MSU's third straight game hitting more than half its shots.
Still, Izzo feels it won't be the Spartans' hot shooting touch that carries them the rest of the season. He's convinced it will come on the defensive end.
"I've seem something the last two weekends in practice and in the last two weeks of some of the games at certain times," Izzo said. "Now, for some reason, the defense has been completely different. I don't know why. I don't know if the light goes on.
"I think it comes down to I trust them and they trust me and the system that has been so good to us."
The Spartans now have to travel on the road for three straight games, starting with a 7 p.m. Wednesday night game against Northwestern.
