Unranked Penn State Takes Down Wolverines
Penn State's rangy forward owned it Tuesday night, then shared it with hundreds of fans who rushed Stevens and his teammates after Penn State upset No. 6 Michigan 75-69.
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Penn State's rangy forward owned it Tuesday night, then shared it with hundreds of fans who rushed Stevens and his teammates after Penn State upset No. 6 Michigan 75-69.
Michigan State coach Tom Izzo called it grit. Perhaps no Spartan embodied that more Tuesday night than his point guard.
Seventh-ranked Michigan (22-2, 11-2 Big Ten) beat No. 19 Wisconsin on Saturday, avenging its first loss this season. It helped that the Wolverines had a better day against Badgers forward Ethan Happ in Round 2.
Magic Johnson was back at Michigan State, joining his teammates to celebrate the 40-year anniversary of winning the national championship.
"Michigan State is a great team, and Tom is a great coach," Underwood said. "They're everything I want to be."
The Spartans got knocked around and beaten at home by previously slumping Indiana in overtime Saturday, nearly a week after losing by 10 points at Purdue.
Coach Archie Miller earned his signature win at Indiana when no one outside the once-proud program saw it coming, especially when one of his best players went down with an injury.
A look at the upcoming week around the Big Ten Conference
"He just competes," Michigan coach John Beilein said. "He's relentless in his desire to win."
Ryan Cline scored 17 points and Eastern overcame his season-long free throw troubles by making six straight down the stretch to help the Boilermakers fend off a frantic late charge and hang on for a 73-63 upset Sunday over the sixth-ranked Spartans.
But sixth-ranked Michigan State had the necessary toughness, blowing past the upstart Hawkeyes in a vintage Tom Izzo performance on the road.
A look at the upcoming week around the Big Ten:
No matchup engendered skepticism of Iowa quite like its 90-68 loss at Michigan State in early December.
Charles Matthews dribbled once and squared up to shoot as the game clock — and more importantly, the shot clock — neared zero.
Aaron Henry made the most of his opportunity to play in place of injured starter Joshua Langford.
Maryland's staying power in the conference race will be severely tested with a yikes-worthy schedule over the next month. The Terrapins (15-3, 6-1) play seven of nine games away from Xfinity Center — visits to Ohio State, No. 6 Michigan State, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Michigan and No. 24 Iowa, and a game against Illinois at Madison Square Garden.
Four nights after Tom Izzo called out Cassius Winston for his poor play, the Spartans' star point guard responded.
The upcoming week around the Big Ten Conference
Michigan (17-0, 6-0 Big Ten) visits an unranked opponent in its only game, though the Wolverines are visiting a Wisconsin team that was ranked for seven straight weeks before dropping out of last week's poll.
Tom Izzo wasn't impressed. The Spartans built a big lead early and dominated at times in the paint in their 71-56 win on Sunday. From Izzo's standpoint, that's all they did well and that won't be enough for the Spartans to be the team they want to be.
Zavier Simpson is Michigan's gritty point guard, and Jon Teske is the 7-foot-1 center. Together, they anchor the Wolverines' stellar defense.
Cassius Winston began with a 16-plus-minute scoreless stretch but finished with 23 points, helping the Spartans pull away to beat the Boilermakers 77-59 on Tuesday night.
Charles Matthews scored 16 of his 18 points in the first half to help No. 2 Michigan build a double-digit lead and the Wolverines held on for a 74-63 victory over No. 21 Indiana on Sunday to remain unbeaten.
Cassius Winston scored 25 points, Nick Ward added 21 and No. 8 Michigan State extended its unbeaten streak to eight games with an 86-77 victory over No. 14 Ohio State on Saturday.
The unbeaten Wolverines (14-0, 3-0) weren't always that dominant while playing lesser competition in December, and the first half against Penn State (7-7, 0-3) wasn't all that great either from an aesthetic standpoint. The teams combined for 18 turnovers in the first 20 minutes, and Michigan led 25-20.
