Only two MSU players were able to find their range Tuesday night, but that's all the Spartans needed to top intrastate rival Michigan.
Junior guard Drew Neitzel must've felt the urgency of the conditions surrounding the matchup with U-M because he wasted no time in lighting up the scoreboard.
Neitzel, known for his second-half scoring outbursts, poured in 14 points and three assists in the opening 20 minutes. Freshman forward Raymar Morgan took over with 14 points of his own in the second half, as the Spartans (18-8 overall, 5-6 Big Ten) emerged with a 59-44 victory over the Wolverines (17-9, 5-6) at Breslin Center.
"It was a big win for us, a real big win," said MSU head coach Tom Izzo, whose team broke a four-game losing streak.
"I'm really proud of this team, we've been through a lot in the last few weeks."
Aside from his usual exhibition of 3-point marksmanship (4-of-6 from 3-point distance in the first half), Neitzel also made a handful of crucial defensive plays.
After a long rebound sprung U-M guard Jerret Smith on a fast break, Neitzel caught him from behind and stripped the ball off Smith's knee and out of bounds.
Minutes later, he kept Wolverines guard Reed Baker from advancing the ball toward the basket, leading to a five-second call and another U-M turnover.
Neitzel buried a 3-pointer just before halftime to give the Spartans a 24-23 lead at the break.
Neitzel cooled down in the second half, but Morgan was just getting started. After sneaking inside for a series of layups, he slipped behind the Wolverines defense, received a pass from Neitzel, and elevated to the rim for a two-handed slam. A nifty turnaround jumpshot followed.
When the action paused for a TV timeout with 3:29 left, the Spartans led, 47-36, and a "Ray-mar Mor-gan" chant rang through Breslin Center.
The Wolverines managed to stay within 10 points of the Spartans through most of the second half, but late-game fouling and free throws iced the game in the final minutes for MSU.
Neitzel led all scorers with 21 points. Morgan finished with 18 points and grabbed 6 rebounds.
Though sophomore guard Travis Walton was quiet on the offensive end (two points), he was the catalyst for the MSU defense, which caused numerous deflections, five-seconds calls, tie-ups, air-balls and shot-clock violations.
"I would just like to thank my teammates, they tried to get me the ball in the second half," Morgan said. "I was a little sluggish in the first half."
Neitzel was impressed with his young teammate.
"This is the player of the game here," Neitzel said. "He carried us."
The Wolverines turned the ball over 20 times, and their 44 points was the team's lowest scoring output of the season.
Dion Harris paced U-M with 13 points.
The Spartans face Iowa on Saturday at Breslin Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. The Hawkeyes prevailed in the previous meeting between the teams on Jan. 4, 62-60.
