The Michigan Wolverines trounced their in-state rivals from East Lansing tonight at Crisler Center, defeating the Michigan State Spartans by an 87-70 final score in front of a sold-out crowd at Crisler Center and improving to 16-12 overall and 10-8 in Big Ten Play. They also earned a split with the Spartans in their season series and got vengeance for their loss in East Lansing earlier in the season.
The host Wolverines were led by Hunter Dickenson, who tallied 33 points on the night with nine rebounds. Additionally, Michigan got contributions from Caleb Houstan and Terrance Williams II who combined for five three point shots. Michigan as a team also shot 58% from the field.
Afterwards, assistant coach Phil Martelli, who is substituting for the suspended Juwan Howard, said that he knew right from the get-go that tonight was going to be a good night for his squad.
“That was special,” Martelli said in his post-game press conference. “When I saw the players’ eyes before the game I was like ‘we’re good.’ Because I wholeheartedly believe, when you want to know how someone feels, look them dead in the eye. That’s what I did. So when I took their pulse, I said ‘game on, game on.’”
And Martelli was quick to give a shoutout to Dickenson with a hilarious alternate career suggestion if his basketball career ultimately doesn’t work out.
“Many of you have heard me say this: If it does not work out in basketball, I dare any of you to deny me this fact: He will be a WWE villain. He won’t be a good guy, but he’ll be a villain. He will sell a lot of tickets for WWE,” Martelli said with a smile.
The Wolverines will now regroup and get ready to face the No. 24 ranked Iowa Hawkeyes on Thursday night at Crisler Center.
– – Quotes via Alejandro Zuniga Link – –
