Michigan
Michigan State Sophomore Turns in Career Game Against FAU
Sophomore guard Coen Carr delivered a breakout performance for Michigan State basketball in its 86-69 victory over Florida Atlantic, scoring a career-high 17 points while pulling down eight rebounds. It was a game that showcased Carr’s developing offensive game and his continued growth as a versatile and impactful player for the Spartans.
Carr’s 17-point effort was the result of a well-rounded offensive game that included a variety of scoring methods. While Carr has long been known for his athleticism and ability to contribute on the defensive end, this game highlighted his increasing ability to make an impact on offense. Perhaps the most notable moment came when he hit his first career 3-pointer, a smooth shot from beyond the arc that not only earned him a standing ovation but also signaled his expanding skill set.
Up until that point, Carr had been more known for his athletic ability and transition play, but this 3-pointer showed that he is working to develop a more complete game, which will be crucial for Michigan State’s offensive versatility going forward.
In addition to his scoring, Carr’s 8 rebounds were crucial in helping Michigan State dominate the glass. His length, athleticism, and motor allowed him to clean up missed shots and secure key offensive and defensive boards. His presence on the boards allowed the Spartans to control the pace of the game, pushing the tempo and limiting FAU’s second-chance opportunities. Carr’s ability to contribute in multiple areas — particularly on the boards — shows his increasing comfort with his role on the team and his willingness to contribute wherever needed.
Carr’s all-around performance demonstrated his potential to become a more significant part of Michigan State’s rotation as the season progresses. His confidence on offense, particularly with the three-point shot, gives the Spartans another weapon to rely on. Meanwhile, his ability to impact the game with his rebounding and defensive play remains one of his strongest assets.
For Michigan State, Carr’s career-high outing is a promising sign of what’s to come. With his athleticism and improving offensive game, Carr has the potential to grow into a key contributor for the Spartans, providing them with much-needed depth and versatility as they look to make a run in the NCAA tournament. This performance against FAU is just the beginning for Coen Carr, and it suggests that he could play a pivotal role in Michigan State’s success this season.
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Michigan coach Dusty May on 90-80 win over Michigan State at Crisler Center
The Wolverines swept the home-and-home series in the rivalry for the first time since the 2013-14 campaign.
Ann Arbor – The Wolverines were pushed, pushed hard. As they have all season, they pushed back even harder.
This was Dusty May’s vision of his Michigan program bathed in maize, in a packed, loud Crisler Center. The Wolverines completed one of the most dominant regular seasons in Big Ten history by going 29-2, 19-1 in the conference. And almost as important, 2-0 against their rivals.
May brought Yaxel Lendeborg for this reason and this season, and specifically for this game. Roughed up last year by Michigan State, the Wolverines toughened up and loaded up, and completed a season sweep of Tom Izzo’s squad with a 90-80 victory Sunday.
The outcomes – 83-71 in East Lansing in January – belied the competitiveness of the games. The Spartans battled and led by four midway through the second half Sunday, but UM came in waves, led by Lendeborg’s 27 points and 5-for-6 shooting from 3.
Michigan deserves its plaudits for a historic run, and MSU (25-6) deserves credit for setting the standard and stoking the motivation. This is how rivals can push each other when they’re not busy pounding each other and swearing at each other. In his second season, May has picked up quickly on what the game means, and how it’s won.
The Wolverines will head to the Big Ten Tournament as the No. 1 seed, and assuredly a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. After the confetti fell and the Big Ten championship banner was raised, May took a moment to relish it. Just a moment, though.
“This journey, everything comes at you so fast,” May said. “We just did something incredibly difficult together, so rewarding and gratifying. And our journey is only three-fourths of the way done.”
UM among national title favorites
Michigan will be one of the favorites to reach the Final Four and win the national championship. Especially if Lendeborg elevates as he did on this day, taking over the game just when the Spartans seemed primed to wreck UM’s fun.
That’s what should be extracted from a rivalry that gets needlessly toxic at times. Of course there were more flashpoints, including yet another technical foul on Jeremy Fears Jr., after a leg kick to the groin of UM guard Elliot Cadeau. Izzo defended his star by saying there was no intent, but there have been too many incidents to dismiss. Izzo should be as miffed at Fears as anyone, although he insists it wouldn’t have become an issue if May hadn’t publicly pointed it out after the first meeting.
You can’t just call it rivalry gamesmanship when there’s ample video evidence. UM also has been called for several technicals – notably by Aday Mara – without disagreement.
If the Spartans made the Wolverines tougher and angrier, perhaps UM is returning the favor. While Michigan has risen in remarkable fashion under May, Izzo certainly isn’t retreating, as fired up after the game as he was during it. At the end, the student section serenaded the Spartans with “Little Brother!”, an old taunt that was especially biting this time.
It’s what happens in a rivalry, no different than the jeers the Wolverines have endured at the Breslin Center. Izzo has had so much control, he’s not accustomed to the other side getting edgy too.
“I guess the crowd didn’t watch the game because I’m nobody’s damn little brother, and neither is my team,” Izzo snapped. “I’m at Michigan State, and no matter what those people think, we’ve done it longer and better than most. … They’ve had a hell of a year. We’ve had a hell of a year.”
Izzo hasn’t encountered a UM coach willing to play the rivalry game as smoothly and passive-aggressively as May, so perhaps the tension was unavoidable. After this game, they shook hands for about two seconds, approximately 1.5 seconds longer than the postgame encounter in East Lansing.
“I didn’t know how big this rivalry was,” May said. “Rivalries are awesome for sports. When they swept us (last year), they earned it, they kicked our butt. They made us better. … Trust me, they’re gonna be coming after us next year, and we’re gonna be coming after them.”
It actually could happen sooner if they collide in the Big Ten tourney. Frankly, it might be better if they go their separate ways for now, because both teams have bigger goals than settling rivalry scores. Both can do significant damage in the tournaments.
The Spartans have a battle-tested threesome – Fears, Jaxon Kohler and Carson Cooper – and a physical, tenacious defense. The Wolverines have an imposing frontline of Lendeborg, Morez Johnson Jr. and Mara (when he’s not in foul trouble), and a physical, tenacious defense. This was a terrifically combative clash, with the Wolverines not pulling away until the final minutes.
Lendeborg and Fears are the favorites for Big Ten Player of the Year, and the best player on the best team seems the logical choice to me. Lendeborg made the big plays at the big moments, 8-for-12 from the field and 6-for-6 from the free-throw line. His season numbers aren’t overwhelming – 14.3 points, 7.3 rebounds – partly because UM has a deep nine-man rotation. It’s down to eight with the loss of L.J. Cason, which requires more from others.
More from Yaxel? He didn’t need to be asked twice.
“There’s no way in heck I was letting the seniors come out and lose their last game here,” Lendeborg said. “We all had goals and hopes of being the best Michigan team ever assembled, but now that we’re in the middle of pretty much accomplishing that, it’s amazing. Nobody has any selfish motives. It was just my time to be aggressive.”
Lendeborg ‘has a lot more in his tank’
Lendeborg, a pricey 6-9 portal addition who chose UM over the NBA, said he came here with three goals: Win the Big Ten; win Player of the Year; win the national title. For it to happen, he has to be the engine.
“Yaxel has a lot more in his tank,” said Roddy Gayle Jr., who scored 15. “It’s kind of my responsibility to keep pushing him. He’s an incredible player, especially when he’s out of his head and playing ball freely. I truly believe Yaxel is the best player in the country.”
Lendeborg is part of a four-man portal class that turned the Wolverines from a good team into a powerhouse. They haven’t been bashful about their ambitions, ever since they launched an incredible run with three November victories in Las Vegas – by 40 over San Diego State, by 30 over Auburn, by 40 over Gonzaga. They’ve won 24 games by double-digits,10 by 30-plus and seven by 40-plus (Big Ten record).
May doesn’t fire back often, but he does chafe at the notion the Wolverines simply bought a bunch of talent. Some have called the Wolverines “mercenaries” and questioned his program-building methods, an odd complaint in the world of NIL and rampant transfers.
“We’ve heard a lot about this super team we had,” May said. “But we looked at (the analytics) – KenPom had us 11 preseason, AP had us No. 7. Not typical for a super team. Our secret sauce is how great of teammates these guys are. Period.”
He doesn’t waste time worrying about it, but his boss has something to say. AD Warde Manuel stood at the edge of the Crisler Center court as the team celebrated and was asked if he hears the gripes.
“That bothers me,” Manuel said. “There’s a lot of people across the country spending a lot of money not having the success we’re having. You have to look at why. And the why is the pieces of the puzzle that have come together, and the way Dusty leads.”
May led them from 8-24 the year before he arrived to 29-2 and the Big Ten championship. He’s shown he’s willing to take on all challenges, including from a storied rival and an iconic coach. Sure, it can get caustic at times, but wherever the Wolverines and Spartans go from here, they’ll know what helped push them.
bob.wojnowski@detroitnews.com
@bobwojnowski
A Michigan State Police trooper is recovering after the patrol vehicle they were in was hit by a car on Detroit’s west side Sunday morning, the state agency said.
Troopers were investigating a fatal collision on Interstate 96 near Outer Drive when a crash involving a semitruck and an SUV happened at a nearby exit ramp, officials said.
The trooper who was hurt was sitting in the patrol car with its emergency lights on during the investigation into the exit ramp crash when the car hit the passenger side of the law enforcement vehicle, according to the state agency. The trooper was taken to the hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening.
Officials said the driver of the car that hit the patrol vehicle, identified as a female of undisclosed age, refused medical treatment. Troopers determined while interviewing her that she was “impaired by both alcohol and narcotics,” according to the state agency.
The female was arrested and taken to the hospital for a blood draw, according to officials.
“Please slow down, focus on the roadway, move over for emergency vehicles,” Michigan State Police First Lieutenant Mike Shaw said in a written statement.
Charges against the female are pending.
Michigan and Michigan State conclude their regular seasons with another game in their long and intense men’s basketball rivalry.
Tip-off is Sunday at 4:30 p.m. at the Crisler Center in Ann Arbor, and the game will be televised by CBS.
No. 3 Michigan (28-2, 18-1 Big Ten) has already clinched the Big Ten regular-season championship outright, but No. 8 MSU (25-5, 15-4) will look to put a blemish on the Wolverines as both teams head to conference and NCAA Tournament play.
In the first meeting this season, Michigan prevailed 83-71 at the Breslin Center on Jan. 30, snapping a four-game losing streak in the series. It was UM’s first win in East Lansing since January 2018. Michigan’s Yaxel Lendeborg had 26 points and 12 rebounds, while Jeremy Fears Jr. scored a career-high 31 for the Spartans.
The Michigan vs. Michigan State rivalry began in 1909 and the Wolverines lead the all-time series 98-92.
Michigan State at Michigan
▶ Tipoff: 4:30 p.m. Sunday, Crisler Center, Ann Arbor
▶ TV/radio: CBS/760, 94.7
▶ Records: No. 3 Michigan 28-2, 18-1 Big Ten; No. 8 Michigan State 25-5, 15-4
▶ Outlook: This is the regular-season finale for both teams. Michigan won the first meeting, 83-71, on Jan. 30 in East Lansing and is seeking its first sweep since 2014. The Wolverines will celebrate senior day and their outright Big Ten regular-season title during a postgame ceremony.
More coverage
▶ Wolverines take aim at historic send-off for seniors: ‘They set the standard’
▶ ‘I need him’: How Dusty May’s comments drove Jeremy Fears Jr., Tom Izzo closer
▶ Michigan basketball gets first taste of life without guard L.J. Cason
▶ Jaxon Kohler shares MSU senior night with great-grandfather, Pearl Harbor vet
▶ Michigan basketball beats Iowa to complete rare Big Ten road feat
▶ Carr, Fears lead Spartans out of senior-night trap against Rutgers
▶ Michigan basketball chasing more milestones, history
▶ This is March: Michigan State basketball peaking as postseason looms
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