ANN ARBOR - Playing with unusual intensity and a sense of urgency, Michigan fed off a virtuoso performance by senior guard Dion Harris who scored 24 points to lead Michigan to a 67-56 win over an undermanned Michigan State squad.
The Spartans started the game without two guard Drew Neitzel, a Big Ten player of the year candidate who was slowed by flu-like symptoms and who seemed to labor throughout the contest.
Meanwhile a fired-up Tommy Amaker was able to coax perhaps his teams best effort to head off the Spartans who appeared ready to make one of their patented come-from-behind second half rallies.
Without Neitzel's sharpshooting (11 points), MSU had trouble scoring from the perimeter and instead, ran several backdoor plays to exploit Michigan's extended defense.
The Spartans Raymar Morgan led all MSU players with 13 points, while Goran Suton added a double-double scoring 11 points and adding eleven rebounds.
Things don't get any easier for MSU heading into the season finale at Madison, WI. against the #6 ranked Badgers who the Spartans upset at home just a week ago.
MSU (21-9) appears to have enough to be the fourth Big Ten team headed to the NCAA Tournament along with Ohio State, Wisconsin and Illinois. It would appear that Indiana would be the fifth team, but Michigan, headed to #2 Ohio State could jump into the mix if they were to pull the upset.
The Spartans currently are #22 in the RPI index, just ahead of #23 Indiana, the Pomeroy Ratings have them at #13 ahead of both Indiana (#16) and Illinois (#22) due most to strength of schedule.