Spartans Let Bitter Rival Leap Them With Loss to Indiana
There were major shakeups to the top of the Big Ten standings on Tuesday.
Before Michigan State dropped its first home game of the season to the Indiana Hoosiers, the Spartans’ bitter rivals, the Michigan Wolverines, secured a monumental victory over the Purdue Boilermakers, the reigning Big Ten champions.
Purdue entered the Chrisler Center as the No. 1 team in the Big Ten and the No. 7 ranked team in the nation. The Boilermakers secured a decisive 27-point victory over the Wolverines in West Lafayette earlier in the season. But the second game went much differently; even with Purdue guard Braden Smith scoring a game-high 24 points, the Wolverines had a slight edge, winning, 75-73.
Michigan is now in control of the top spot in the conference at 11-2. The Wolverines have the longest winning streak in the Big Ten at five games. In Wolverines head coach Dusty May’s first season at the helm, the program has flipped, going 3-17 in conference play last season all the way to first place.
Yale transfer Danny Wolf has been the Wolverines' best player, the big man is averaging a double-double, 12 points and 10 rebounds per game and will be in contention for the all-Big Ten team.
While Michigan cruised on its win streak, Michigan State began to falter, losing three of its last four games. After holding the No. 1 spot in the Big Ten, starting conference play with nine straight wins, the Spartans have slid to No. 3 behind Michigan and Purdue.
Michigan State will have the opportunity to avenge its first home loss of the season against the Boilermakers on Tuesday in a matchup between two teams that are currently separated by just .5 games in the standings. First on the Spartans' agenda, however, will be a tough road test against Illinois in Champaign on Saturday.
By no means is Michigan State out of the conference title race, as it is currently one game back of the Wolverines. The rivals still have two games against each other, the first matchup set for Feb. 21 in Ann Arbor before the teams go toe-to-toe in East Lansing for the regular season finale on March 9, which could be the deciding game for the fate of the Big Ten regular season championship.
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