ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The Spartan and Wolverine communities will come together Saturday night not just to watch their respective teams play, but pay respect to the lives lost in the shootings at Michigan State University.
Still, just days removed from a nightmarish tragedy, basketball is most likely near the last thing on the mind of the majority of the Michigan State community.
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On Monday, Feb. 13, three students were killed, five were wounded, and thousands of alumni, parents, and friends collectively felt their hearts ache in the aftermath.
However, on Saturday night, there is one opportunity for an entire state to come together in support of the Michigan State community.
The 192nd all-time meeting between the Michigan and Michigan State Basketball teams is officially a go for Saturday, Feb. 18, at 8 p.m.
One thing is for sure, it will not be like the previous matchups. Instead of booing the green and white when they enter the floor for warmups, the home crowd at Ann Arbor’s Crisler Center will most likely give a warm welcome.
The University of Michigan has some special plans lined up pregame; players and student spectators will wear custom warm-up shirts recognizing Michigan State. An extra long moment of silence is expected to take place while the stadium is illuminated by green and white LED wristbands worn by all attendees.
Read: Michigan State professor ‘haunted’ after shooter opens fire in his classroom
It won’t have the same meaning or magnitude as the activities that happen before it, but the basketball expected to be played should be a sight to see as well. With a win, the Spartans will be victorious in three straight games while in the process handing the Wolverines their third straight loss.
“I expect two competitive teams to go out there and compete while understanding this is the game they all love,” said U of M head coach Juwan Howard during a press conference on Friday.
Competitive it shall be as the two schools have split the last six meetings dating back to 2020, and four of the last eight have a winning margin of single digits.
That includes Jan. 7 at the Breslin Center in East Lansing, with MSU winning their 11th game of the year, 59-53 over U of M. The game was a defensive battle from start to finish and had Big Ten hoops written all over it. Not only did the under of 138.5 points hit by a mile, but neither squad shot above 40% from the field.
This weekend’s game could play out the same way, as both the Spartans and Wolverines have similar dependencies when it comes to scoring on offense.
For Juwan Howard’s group, three key playmakers lead the way. His freshman son Jett, sophomore Kobe Bufkin, and the conference’s 5th leading scorer Hunter Dickinson. That last name rings a little louder in the ears of the Michigan State faithful as scoring and defending at the big man position has been a major struggle for the Spartans. Michigan will look to pound the ball into the paint early and often with Dickinson. If he gets hot, which he so often does against this rival, the Wolverines could pull out to a sizeable lead.
If he doesn’t, that is where Bufkin and Howard come in. Surrounding a center with perimeter shooters is often a recipe for success in basketball. Howard is currently third in the Big Ten in three-point shooting, and Bufkin has more than tripled his average points per game from 2021-22. They have been flame throwers for Michigan at times, but other times when they run out of propane, the offense is hard to come by for the maize and blue. In last month’s loss, some early foul trouble prevented Michigan from getting into a rhythm. Playing in front of their home faithful could prove helpful in keeping that problem from happening again.
The big three for the Spartans consist of A.J. Hoggard, Tyson Walker, and Joey Hauser. The latter name is coming off his best outing of conference play, as the senior poured in six three-pointers against Ohio State in MSU’s last time out. Whether it be in transition or running off a down-screen, Hauser is more times than not, money from long range. If Tom Izzo can formulate ways to get him open in ways that the Wolverines haven’t already seen on film, the Spartans will be a hard out.
On Thursday, when asked about deciding to go through with playing this game, Izzo said “One way to get back to some normalcy is to make things more normal.”
The 28th year head coach for Michigan State has been through a lot these last few days; trying to prepare an emotionally scarred group of kids for a rivalry contest is not an easy task for any leader.
But there is no doubt Izzo will have his team ready for battle. That is a normalcy for MSU basketball. Just like it is a normalcy that Spartan teams usually shift into a different gear come this time in the season.
After their bout with Michigan, they will have just four games remaining on their schedule. March is just around the corner -- the time of year when the toughest of tough college basketball teams come out on top.
We will see very quickly if Michigan State will use this awful tragedy as inspiration. Adversity strikes sports teams all the time, whether they use it as a catalyst for success is a toss-up. If the Spartans prove to be ‘Spartan Strong,’ basketball fans throughout the state should get the popcorn ready.
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