Hunter Dickinson scored a career-high 33 points on 13-for-19 shooting and grabbed nine rebounds, and Michigan pulled away for an 87-70 win over visiting Michigan State on Tuesday night in a Big Ten Conference matchup in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Caleb Houstan added 16 points for the Wolverines (16-12, 10-8 Big Ten), who avenged a 16-point loss to Michigan State earlier in the season. Michigan improved to 2-1 under acting head coach Phil Martelli, who has stepped in for Juwan Howard during the head coach’s five-game suspension.
Gabe Brown led the Spartans with 12 points while making 5 of 9 shots from the field. Tyson Walker added 11 for Michigan State (19-10, 10-8), which lost for the fourth time in its past five games.
After leading by 16 points at the break, the Wolverines increased their advantage to 55-33 with 17:40 to play. Eli Brooks fed a pass to Houstan for a 3-pointer to make it a 22-point game.
Michigan State creeped back within 13 points of the lead following an 18-9 run. That included a 7-0 stretch in which Mady Sissoko made a jump shot, Jaden Akins hit a 3-pointer and Brown made a jumper.
The Wolverines prevented Michigan State from turning a brief spark into a major comeback. Michigan stretched its lead back to 18 points on a jump shot by Brooks that made it 81-63 with 2:57 remaining.
Michigan built a 44-28 lead at the half.
The Spartans got off to a decent start, relying on a 5-0 run to inch ahead 11-9 in the first 3:07. Julius Marble had a dunk and Joey Hauser drained a 3-pointer to put Michigan State on top.
The Wolverines responded with a 12-0 run to seize a double-digit advantage with 13:32 to go. The scoring binge included three free throws by Houstan, a jump shot by Dickinson, back-to-back layups by Brooks and a 3-pointer by Terrance Williams II.
Another run by Michigan, this time 8-0, increased the Wolverines’ lead to 41-24 with 4:10 left. Dickinson and Moussa Diabate had dunks during the run, and the Spartans never recovered.
-Field Level Media
