Unlike last season, Michigan expects true home-court advantage vs. Spartans

ANN ARBOR — Oh, Nimari Burnett remembers. He probably wishes he didn’t, but he does. He shook his head on Wednesday when the topic was broached.

Last season, a Michigan men’s basketball home game didn’t always feel like it. Michigan went just 8-24, losing 14 of its final 15 games, and many fans lost interest along the way.

This time last year, the Wolverines hosted Michigan State, just as they will on Friday (8:05 p.m. ET, FOX). Spartan fans made their presence felt at Crisler Center that Saturday night. “Is it Michigan or Michigan State?” FOX analyst Jim Jackson said of the crowd during the broadcast. “You just don’t know right now.”

The atmosphere was worse for the Wolverines the following weekend, when Purdue fans took over Crisler. “It felt like Mackey Arena in here,” one Michigan player said that day.

This season has been drastically different. Michigan (20-5, 12-2) is in first place in the Big Ten. Michigan fans, and Michigan fans only, have been filling Crisler. They’ve left happy after all 12 home games this season.

Friday is another sell out. The environment should be electric.

“It’s what you play for. It’s why I came to Michigan,” said Danny Wolf, who transferred after two seasons at Yale. “It’s why we’re all here. This is what makes Big Ten basketball, college basketball, so exciting: games like this, this late in the season, a storied rivalry. As loud as it’s going to be, I hope it’s going to mostly be for us.”

There’s no reason to think it won’t be.

Michigan State’s Carson Cooper was asked on Wednesday in East Lansing to contrast what he experienced last season at Crisler with what he expects to face on Friday.

“Last year I don’t remember many ‘Go Blue’ chants or anything,” he said. “I felt like it was mostly green there. We knew they were struggling with a lot of stuff going on. This is going to be a lot like a really hostile (environment), like a Purdue, like an Illinois — that level of intensity. It’s going to be loud. There’s going to be a lot of trash talk. It’s going to be a lot different from last year for sure.”

Michigan has a new coaching staff (led by Dusty May, who replaced Juwan Howard) and a revamped roster that has a chance at going from worst to first in the Big Ten. On Wednesday, players like Wolf and Vladislav Goldin expressed their excitement for their first meeting with Michigan State. All they’ve known at Michigan is winning in front of great crowds.

Friday will hit different for the few returners, Burnett among them. He’s treated his second season at Michigan like a revenge tour, hoping to pay back every Big Ten team that beat Michigan last year (a list that includes every team in the league last season except Wisconsin).

He’s especially hungry for another crack at Michigan State after getting swept a year ago.

“I’m excited for (Crisler) to be flooded with Michigan fans,” he said. “I’m super excited for the crowd to get into it. It’s gonna be fun.”

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