Michigan basketball and Michigan State were tied with less than two minutes to play when Kobe Bufkin and Hunter Dickinson hit consecutive 3-pointers to help the Wolverines go on a 12-0 run the final 2:29 of the game to pull away for the 84-72 win on an emotional night in Ann Arbor on Saturday.
Dug McDaniel scored a career-high 18 points for Michigan (15-12, 9-7 Big Ten), Bufkin added 15, Dickinson had 14 points and seven rebounds and Tarris Reed had eight points and a career-high 10 rebounds as UM closed the game on 12-0 run over the final 2:29.
Joey Hauser had a game-high 20 for MSU (16-10, 8-7), followed by 14 points from Malik Hall and 11 from Tyson Walker.
Prior to tipoff, Crisler Center was illuminated in green during a ceremony to honor the victims of the shooting on Michigan State’s campus, where three were killed and five critically injured, earlier this week. UM’s pep band played MSU’s alma mater after a moment of silence as the ‘Maize Rage’ held a banner that read “Spartan Strong.”
A fast start
Compared to the rock fight in East Lansing in the first meeting, won 59-53 by MSU, Saturday’s matchup was a track meet. Michigan freshman Dug McDaniel scored the Wolverines first seven points on three straight buckets; a mid-range jumper, a corner 3 and steal and score off Tyson Walker to put Michigan up 7-2 early.
After a Jett Howard 3-pointer gave UM a 12-9 lead, MSU’s veterans got going. Tyson Walker buried a mid-range jumper then Malik Hall caught an alley-oop from AJ Hoggard to put MSU up by one. The two sides would alternate the next seven shots before a Malik hall slam, a Carson Cooper layup and a Hauser 3-pointer put MSU up 24-18.
The Wolverines, as they did all night, punched back, with a Joey Baker 3-pointer and a McDaniel floater to get within one. That’s when MSU ripped off a 9-2 spurt − a Tre Hollomon baseline jumper, Hall mid-range jumper, Hall 3-pointer and Walker scooping a lefty layup to go up 33-25.
Michigan closed the gap before the half thanks to a Bufkin long ball, a pair of Dickinson free throws and another Bufkin bucket to make it 36-33 at the break.
After Hauser hit three free throws to open the second half, Bufkin responded with a three-pointer to get back within three. The game would stay within a four point margin almost the rest of the way. MSU got it out to a 46-41 lead on a Jaxon Kohler layup, before Hunter Dickinson got an offensive rebound and put-back And-1 and Jett Howard hit a mid-range jumper to tie the game at 46.
Howard came down awkwardly on his right ankle (he missed a game last month with a left ankle injury) and did not return.
Tight until the end
Back and forth the teams went. Hall hit a layup and Jaden Akins threw down a thunderous slam in transition over Jace Howard to go up four, before consecutive layups by Baker and Tschetter tied the score.
The game would stay within three points until Hauser hit a 3-pointer to put MSU up six, 63-57 and force a UM timeout. The Wolverines came out of the break with their best response.
Dickinson kicked out to Baker for a 3-pointer and then Tarris Reed Jr. got a rebound and finished a layup over Hauser despite a foul. His free throw tied the game at 63, before he tipped in a loose ball on the next possession to tie the game at 65.
Dickinson hit two free throws with 5:20 to play to put UM up for the first time since the 11:18 mark of the first half.
MSU would tie the game at 67 with a pair of Hauser free throws, then again at 72 when Walker hit a 3-pointer over Baker. Bufkin’s go-ahead long ball came with less than three seconds on the clock before Dickinson’s came from the wing with 1:05 to play.
MSU wouldn’t score again and went 2-for-13 from the field over the last 8:22 of the game.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan basketball tops Michigan State, 84-72, on an emotional night
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