In a back-and-forth contest, the Spartans blanked U-M in overtime, outscoring them by 10 points to improve to 15-7 overall, 6-3 in Big Ten play.

Michigan’s season-long battle with injuries carried over to this one, and sophomore guard Derrick Walton joined junior guard Caris Lavert with crutches and a walking boot on the bench.

U-M sophomore guard/forward Zak Irvin and Dawson went right after each other to open the game. Irvin banked in a jumper with Dawson all over him, and on the ensuing MSU offensive possession, Dawson posted up on the block and finished off the glass to beat Irvin.

A turnover from Dawson led to a fast break lay-in from freshman guard Aubrey Dawkins, and the Wolverines pounced to an 8-3 lead. Valentine missed his first two threes of the game, but on an inside-out look, he finally connected on a triple at the 16:13 mark.

A Spartan run gained its footing as Schilling netted two free throws and Valentine drained a three to put MSU down just one point. MSU’s defense began to tighten, and after an enormous Dawson block on Irvin and a Valentine steal, MSU worked its way to a one point lead.

Missed shots near the rim plagued the Spartans throughout the half, but the threes began to pile on, especially for Valentine. He hit his third triple of the half with 1:32 left, and about 30 seconds later, he connected again, extending MSU’s lead to 29-22.

U-M opened the second half with a 1-3-1 zone, but a lob from Trice to Schilling easily broke it down. Two turnovers allowed the Wolverines to regain the lead momentarily, and with a circus shot and three-point play from Albrecht, U-M took a 37-36 lead.

Albrecht drained a face-up three to put his team up 43-40, and on the next possession, Abdur-Rahkman beat Dawson with a strong finish at the rim.

Coming out a timeout from Izzo, Trice scored his first basket of the game at the 12:38 mark. Valentine followed it up going coast-to-coast and finishing at the hoop, cutting U-M’s lead to 45-44.

The back-and-forth continued, but a line drive pass from Valentine to Dawson led to a 57-56 MSU lead. After Irvin and freshman guard Aubrey Dawkins answered for the Wolverines, a three point play from Dawkins put U-M up 61-57 at the 5:06 mark.

Two enormous blocks from junior forward Matt Costello over a short span led to a Dawson oop on the other end, tying the game at 61.

An Izzo timeout led to a jumper from Trice at the foul line and all of a sudden, MSU had a two point lead. A steal from Trice took away another U-M possession, and Forbes hit a triple to send Breslin into a frenzy and put MSU on top 66-61.

Albrecht hit his third three of the game to cut the MSU lead to two with 40.9 seconds left. Later, a tip-in from U-M's Bielfeldt tied the game at 66. With a chance to win it, Trice came up short on a three point attempt. Although the Spartans had two timeouts left, Izzo decided not to use on on the final possession.

In overtime, Valentine started things off with a bucket in the post and free throws from Costello put MSU up 70-66. On the next possession, Costello gathered the offensive rebound and finished a put-back to distance the Spartans.

It was all MSU in the extra period, and stifling defense forced five missed shots from the Wolverines.