In what’s become a must-win game for both schools, Michigan has an eight-point halftime lead over in-state rival Michigan State Saturday afternoon in Ann Arbor.
Cold shooting has hurt the Spartans in the first half. MSU has made only 8-of-26 shots from the field. Kalin Lucas has only two points on 1-of-5 shooting, while Draymond Green is 1-of-6 from the floor. Both Keith Appling and Durrell Summers have 10 points apiece for MSU at halftime.
Michigan has run out to its lead despite getting no points from Tim Hardaway Jr. Hardaway has only taken three shots, going 0-for-3, and left the game after taking a hard foul from Lucas. Evan Smotrycz leads the Wolverines at halftime with nine points, followed by Darius Morris with eight. Jordan Morgan has six, and probably would’ve scored more if foul trouble hadn’t put him on the bench.
MSU closed out the first half on a 6-0 run that might have helped their confidence. Coach Tom Izzo could end up telling his team that they’re only down by eight despite playing a rather poor first 20 minutes of basketball.