EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Max Christie scored 14 of his 16 points in the first half and Malik Hall finished with 15 points, leading No. 10 Michigan State to an 83-67 win over Michigan on Saturday.
The Spartans (16-4, 7-2 Big Ten) pulled away by outscoring their rivals 14-3 early in the second half and didn’t have trouble keeping a comfortable cushion.
The Wolverines (10-8, 4-4) led by as much as six in the first half and trailed by just four at halftime, but they missed their first eight shots in the second half and failed to bounce back at either end of the court.
Michigan State’s bench was outscoring Michigan’s 20-0 at one point early in the second half, a key factor that allowed Tom Izzo’s team to overcome leading scorer Gabe Brown being held scoreless for nearly 27 minutes.
Michigan’s Hunter Dickinson had 14 of his 25 points in the first half. He didn’t score in the second half until he went to the line with 7:56 left and he went on to quickly score six points to pull the Wolverines within 11 points.
Caleb Houstan and Moussa Diabate scored 11 each for the Wolverines.
Michigan State’s Joey Hauser scored 14, A.J. Hoggard had 11 points.
