Trey Burke stole a pass from Gary Harris in the closing seconds and the Michigan Wolverines edged the visiting Michigan State Spartans, 58-57, in a thrilling contest played in front of a boisterous crowd on Sunday at sold-out Crisler Center in Ann Arbor.
Burke led all scorers on the day with 21 points, and contributed eight assists and five steals. The sophomore Wolverine guard has now scored 15 or more points in each of U-M's 16 Big Ten Conference games to date, and his game-clinching theft in front of the MSU bench epitomized his stellar play at both ends of the floor during the 2012-13 campaign.
Michigan State took a 31-28 lead into the halftime break, but a re-energized Michigan went on top less than three minutes into the second stanza when Jordan Morgan made a layup after a pass from Burke. The Wolverines eventually built a 10-point cushion, but the Spartans chipped away at the lead and evened the score at 56-56 with under a minute to play when Keith Appling knocked down a pair of free throws. Michigan turned over the ball shortly afterward, but Michigan State returned the favor when Burke stole the ball and drove the court to make a dunk, which put his team up by two. Derrick Nix made one of two free throws on the next MSU possession, then Mitch McGary missed the front end of a one-and-one free-throw opportunity for U-M, which set up the final sequence, in which Burke sealed the victory for the Maize and Blue.
Ranked No. 4 coming into the contest, Michigan is now 24-5 overall and 11-5 in Big Ten play, which has tied them with Michigan State, now 22-7 overall, in the conference standings. Burke and McGary were the only two Wolverines to score in double figures, but Glenn Robinson III came close with eight points. Read more in a comprehensive recap on MGoBlue.com.
U-M concludes the season with a road date on Wednesday versus Purdue then returns home next Sunday to take on the Indiana Hoosiers at 4 p.m. ET. Stay current with Michigan men's hoops on Facebook and Twitter.
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