Champions again! MSU clinches share of Big Ten title, rout Wolverines

Morgan double-double paces Spartans

Could there have been a better ending?

In his final game at Breslin Center on Sunday, senior forward Raymar Morgan scored a season-high 22 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, kissed the ‘S’ at midcourt and watched a Big Ten Championship banner raise to the rafters in front of Spartan legends Mateen Cleaves and Charlie Bell.

Oh, he also helped the No. 11 Spartans (24-7 overall, 14-4 Big Ten) throttle archrival Michigan, 64-48, in the process.

“We wanted to come out aggressive and just get into the flow of the game early,” Morgan said. “My team has been doing a great job of getting me the ball.”

It was a complete team effort and something MSU men’s basketball coach Tom Izzo had been looking for after bashing his team following their narrow defeat of Penn State three days earlier.

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“I thought the biggest thing we did was check 90 percent of that game about as well as we’ve checked all year,” Izzo said of his team’s defense. “I think part of the reason today’s game went like it went was our defense was pretty good. I’m sure (U-M coach John Beilein) didn’t feel his offense was as good as it could be but I’m proud of our guys.”

It has been a consistent and solid finish to the regular season for Morgan, a player considered to be inconsistent throughout his career.

Morgan has scored at least 16 points and grabbed at least eight rebounds in three consecutive games and the reason might be because Morgan has been looking ahead to this moment.

“I’ve been ready for the tournament this whole year,” he said. “That’s been my main focus, just wanting to get to the tournament and show people what I can do.”

In his final home game, senior guard Isaiah Dahlman made his 10th career start – his second this season. He played for the first few minutes before being substituted out. He was given a standing ovation as he headed to the bench.

The game got off to an ugly start with both teams missing lay-ups. MSU only held a 4-2 advantage four minutes into the game.

After a free throw by U-M forward Zack Gibson cut the MSU lead to 9-5, the Spartans went on a 16-3 run to blow the game open and give MSU a 25-8. All 16 points were scored by Morgan and sophomore forward Delvon Roe.

After that run, the Spartans went cold, not hitting a field goal for almost six minutes. Despite the lack of efficiency on offense, the MSU defense held, only allowing six points during the stretch.

The teams went into the locker room with MSU leading 32-14. The 14 points were the lowest U-M scored in the first half this season and the fewest MSU allowed in the first half in the season.

Perhaps no moment better defined the half when, with less than one minute to play, Morgan tied up U-M guard Zack Novak for a jump ball and proceeded to pull the ball and slam Novak to the ground, much to the delight of the Spartan faithful.

The physical play was something Beilein questioned after the game.

“They are super physical, probably the most physical team we play and it’s a concern of mine two ways,” he said. “No. 1, we have to get more physical and No. 2, I must be teaching some different things in basketball defense because we don’t grab people a lot, not that they were grabbing, but there’s a lot of physical play that goes on and I wish it could be called tighter at times but that’s the way it’s done.”

No Wolverine scored more than three points in the first half, while two Spartans (Morgan and Roe) scored 13 and 10, respectively.

Roe didn’t play much in the second half, something Izzo said was due to Roe’s injured knee.

The Spartans started the half just as hot as they ended it. A jump shot by Morgan to start the half gave him as many points as U-M (14).

Leading 40-14, the Spartans forced a steal and a breakaway. Morgan tossed the ball up for Dahlman, who finished the alley-oop dunk. U-M called a timeout and Dahlman leaped into the arms of Morgan as Breslin Center was rocking.

“I call it the special senior moment, “Dahlman said. “It’s only fitting that it was from Raymar, another senior. I had to go thank him and let him know it meant a lot to me and him having the confidence to throw it up there, it was the ultimate senior moment.”

When Morgan was substituted with 14:39 to play, he had scored more points (19), than the entire U-M team (18).

With MSU leading, 60-42, with just less than four minutes to play, Lucas passed the ball off the backboard on a breakaway to Dahlman, who slammed it home. It was the second highlight dunk for Dahlman, who finished with four points.

“(Dahlman) started slowing up so my eyes lit up because I haven’t had a dunk all season and I was about to dunk it,” Lucas said. “But then I saw Zeke when there was nobody there so I yelled to him, ‘Backboard! Backboard!’ and I threw it off the backboard and he flushed it.”

The victory was the fourth consecutive for the Spartans against their in-state rival. U-M (14-16, 7-11) hasn’t won at Breslin Center since 1997. U-M guard Manny Harris was held to a season-low four points on 1-for-10 shooting, while Gibson led the Wolverines with 10 points.

The game ended with the team’s three seniors, Morgan, Dahlman and walk-on forward Jon Crandell, being recognized and honored in front still-almost-full Breslin Center.

The players cut down the net and watched the program’s 12th Big Ten championship banner be put up in the Breslin Center rafters, cementing a “footprint” that Izzo wanted this team to have.

Could it have been a better ending?

“No,” Morgan said. “It was picture-perfect.”