“I know he (doesn’t care much) about the Fab Five,” Green said of Izzo after practice Monday. “We can’t wear black socks. There’s something behind that.”

Green said he made the mistake of wearing black socks into the weight room when he first came to East Lansing. It didn’t take long for players, coaches and other staff members to notice and make Green pay the price.

“I was doing push-ups for it, and I pretty much got the picture that you can’t wear black socks around here,” Green said.

Although MSU has a stranglehold on the current rivalry, winning 18 of the last 21 meetings, it’s still the early days of Izzo’s coaching career that shape his attitude toward U-M as he and the No. 25 Spartans (12-7 overall, 4-3 Big Ten) prepare to play the Wolverines (11-9, 1-6) at 7 p.m. tonight at Breslin Center.

Izzo will admit that MSU, which has won the last 11 matchups at Breslin, has “finally gotten on a little bit of a run,” but that won’t change how he approaches the rivalry.

“The reason I’ll never say anything is because, in the modern era, we’ve been on the short end of the stick more than the end of that,” Izzo said at his press conference Monday.

As MSU gets ready for the next installment of the rivalry, Green said the players can tell by Izzo’s demeanor which team is next on the schedule.

“He’s amped up,” Green said.

With seven losses — three of which have come in conference play — the Spartans aren’t in the situation they hoped to be at the beginning of the season. But tonight will be the perfect chance to right the ship.

“It’s Michigan week, and we’re 12-7,” Green said. “If that doesn’t give you enough reason to be amped up … basketball isn’t the right sport for you.”

This year’s U-M team is led by head coach John Beilein, who said the recent Wolverine struggles because of their youth, as there is not a single senior on the team.

“The biggest thing is the age of our young men,” Beilein said. “They’re young. Every game there’s a new scouting report, and every day there’s a new thing you have to do.”

U-M’s scouting report won’t have Korie Lucious on it after Izzo dismissed the junior guard from the team for the rest of the season Tuesday night. Without Lucious, the Spartans will be short a perimeter defender to try to stop the guard-oriented Wolverine offense.

Izzo said despite U-M’s record, the Wolverines, who lead the Big Ten in 3-pointers made per game in Big Ten play (8.71), are dangerous because of the way they shoot from deep.

“They’re not playing great recordwise, but I think they’re playing better basketball than their record,” Izzo said. “And yet, whenever a team comes in that’s got three or four 3-point shooters, it’s always scary one way or another.”

Although not having Lucious against U-M will hurt, MSU’s advantage inside could more than make up for it.

The Spartans are third in the conference in rebounding margin (plus-4.4), while the Wolverines are 10th (minus-0.6). In U-M’s loss to Minnesota on Saturday, the Wolverines managed to bring in just 13 rebounds.

One of those big men trying to take advantage of U-M inside will be junior forward Delvon Roe. An Ohio native who grew up being taught to hate the Wolverines, Roe said he has no problem understanding the rivalry.

And despite MSU’s advantages on the court and the fact U-M is riding a six-game losing streak, he said he knows better than to underestimate the Wolverines.

“It’s always going to be a war,” Roe said. “Everybody who plays in the Michigan-Michigan State game knows, it’s going to be a dog-fight game.”