Michigan Men’s Basketball Faces off Against Big Ten Counterpart
The third-ranked Michigan Wolverines take on the seventh-ranked Michigan State Spartans on March 8th at 4:30 p.m. EST. This is their second time facing off, with Michigan taking the win, 83-71. The Wolverines are 27-2 on the season, with their two losses coming from first-ranked Duke and to the unranked Wisconsin. As for the Spartans, they sit just below the Wolverines with a 24-5 record. Out of their five losses, three of them are to ranked teams with Duke, Michigan, and Nebraska. When it comes to the Big Ten conference, Michigan is in first with a 17-1 record, and Michigan State is in second place, just three games behind with a 14-4 record.
For Michigan, Yaxel Lendeborg is the leading scorer, averaging 14.3 points per game. The New Jersey native is in his third year in college, and he spent his first two years at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where he averaged 13.8 points and 17.7 points. Although he is the leading scorer, the third-year forward is struggling to shoot from three with a lousy 31% shooting percentage. Lendeborg is coming off a good game against 10th-ranked Illinois, where he had 16 points and seven rebounds while shooting six for 11 from the field. As a team, the Wolverines are averaging 89 points per game, which is the seventh highest in the NCAA. Their incredible scoring abilities have led to a massive 21-point differential from their opponents, where they average 68.7 points.
When it comes to Michigan State, Jeremy Fears Jr. is the one leading the charge. The sophomore is averaging 15.1 points and an impressive nine assists, which leads the NCAA. Although Fears is a skillful playmaker, he struggles to be efficient, shooting 29% from three. The six-foot-two guard is also coming off a good game where he scored 21 points and tallied nine assists. The Spartans are averaging 78.3 points as a team, and opponents are averaging 66.3 points, resulting in a 12-point differential. This is the last game of the regular season for both teams, and according to ESPN analytics, Michigan is considered the favorite with a 82% chance to win.
