The Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team knocked off arch rival and the #9 ranked Michigan State Spartans 60-59 Tuesday night at Crisler Arena in a game that went down to the final shot. With 6 seconds to go in the game Spartans senior forward Dreymond Green drove to the free throw line and fired a jumper that hit the clanked off the rim, Michigan State had a tip in attempt right at the buzzer that also fell just short. As the buzzer sounded Michigan guard Tim Hardaway Jr. tossed the basketball in to the air with excitement as the Wolverines defeated their arch rivals for the third straight time, and remain undefeated at home this season. Vital to Michigan's success in this game was the outstanding play of point guard Trey Burke. The freshman out of Columbus, Ohio looked like a veteran as he scored a team high 20 points for the Wolverines on 8 of 11 shooting from the field, and chipped in with 3 assists, one of which came on a Stu Douglass layup late in the game, which put Michigan up for good. Another key to the Michigan victory was the way they played at the defensive end of the court. The continuous switching back and forth between a man-to-man and a 1-3-1 zone defense kept the Spartans off balance and forced them in to 14 turnovers. The two teams will face off again on February 5th, this time in East Lansing. With the victory the Wolverines now climb to second place in the Big 10 with a 5-2 conference record and a 15-4 record overall. Michigan State falls to 4-2 in conference play as the loss was their second conference loss in a row. The Wolverines will now hit the road for a contest with the Arkansas Razorbacks, Saturday in Fayateville. The Razorbacks are just coming off a whooping handed to them by the #2 Kentucky Wildcats, as they coasted to an 86-63 victory. The Razorbacks are 13-5 overall and 2-2 in SEC conference action. Arkansas is lead by junior forward Marshawn Powell, who is averaging 19.5 points and 6 rebounds per game this year. Michigan has had a tendency to start games slow on the road so look for the Razorbacks to try and jump out of the gate quickly and try to build an early lead on Michigan. Expect the Wolverines to counter with continuing to change back and forth between man and zone defenses to prevent Arkansas from getting any type of offensive rhythem going in this game. For Michigan to win however, they will have to do a better job at holding their opponent to a lower field goal shooting percentage.They allowed Michigan State to shoot 48% from the field, it will be tough to win a game on the road, allowing your opponent to shoot that percentage. However, look for Michigan to continue their hot shooting, and get the job done in a tough uncommon non-conference game in the middle of the season. The Wolverines will win but the unranked Arkansas Razorbacks will play tough at home and hang in there in a game that will be a lot closer than many people think.
My prediction:
#20 Michigan -73
Arkansas- 67
For all of you gamblers out there, here are the Vegas lines, and my picks for some of the marquee NCAA basketball matchups tonight (home teams on bottom, my picks are bolded):
Cincinatti
#13 Connecticut -6.5
Texas
#25 Kansas State -5.0
#18 Mississippi State -2.0
Mississippi
Northwestern
Wisconsin -10
Sleeper Pick:
#11 Indiana -3.0
Nebraska
-The Hoosiers are coming off 2 straight in-conference losses and have not played their best basketball on the road this season. On the other hand Nebraska struggles early in the season but are starting to get used to the switch to the Big 10 from the Big 12. Look for the Cornhuskers to come out strong on home court. Nebraska may not win, but I think they will cover the 3 point spread.
I hope this helps everyone out with their picks. GOOD LUCK AND GOOOOOOOOOOO BLUE!
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