INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — No. 7 Michigan State is building momentum as March Madness beckons. No.
22 Michigan, meanwhile, seems to be taking a step or two back. And yet as the rivals concluded one battle for Big Ten supremacy Sunday, they're embarking on another at this week's conference tournament in Indianapolis. The timing couldn't be better for the Spartans.
“I told all you for the last three weeks, if we start shooting the ball well, we could be a really, really, really good team, because we do the other things really well at a high level,” coach Tom Izzo said after winning a record-tying 11th league crown with the victory over the Wolverines. “I think we’ve made nine 3-pointers in the last three games. Hopefully that gets us going a little bit.
I think we've still got a ceiling to get to.” How good could these Spartans be? Some think they could rival any of Izzo's seven Final Four teams, maybe even the 1999-2000 team that won the national championship. And while both Michigan and Michigan State earned double-byes into Friday's quarterfinal round, the Spartans have seven straight wins, an emerging star in guard Jase Richardson and a team surging up the rankings and into title conversations.
But the Spartans recognize it's going to take more than momentum to get past No. 23 Oregon (23-8) or ninth-seeded Indiana (19-12) in Friday's first game. The Hoosiers were the last team to beat Michigan State.
“Our strength in numbers,” Michigan State guard Jaden Akins said..
