When No. 12 Michigan basketball welcomes No. 13 Michigan State to Crisler Center on Friday (8 p.m., Fox) for the rivalry's first top-15 matchup in more than five years, it does so knowing exactly what the Spartans want to do.
It's not a secret.
It's what they've done in virtually every one of their 30 seasons under head coach Tom Izzo: Run, rebound, defend.
Especially the first part.
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"Jumps off the page at you, they're elite in transition as they are every year," assistant coach and general manager Kyle Church said Wednesday. "They just run so fast, all five of them. Point guard catches the ball on the run, wings are sprinting the wings and the first big down puts pressure on the rim. It's extremely difficult to guard and they're as disciplined as any team I've ever seen, making it every single possession, getting up floor as fast as possible."
Michigan's basketball staff is new to Ann Arbor this season, so no one has faced the Spartans as league foes (though Church and head coach Dusty May played MSU while coaching at Florida in 2015). Still, Church said, after talking with fellow coaches, he has learned one universal truth.
"Everybody I've talked to is like, 'You're going to be blown away' by how fast they run," Church said. "You just can't replicate it. So, obviously just trying to explain (it). We showed them clips (Tuesday), they'll see more today, more tomorrow, more on game day and just try to prepare ourselves mentally for what we're up against.
"Those first four minutes will be eye-opening, but hopefully we can settle in quickly."
Church called stopping MSU's transition game "1A" of the game plan, with limiting offensive rebounds as "1B." MSU is No. 1 in Big Ten play in transition points (at 17.5 per game) and offensive rebound rate (36.8%) as well as free throw percentage (80.6%).
It all adds up to the No. 3 offensive efficiency (115.0) in the conference.
Equally as concerning for U-M: The Spartans are also No. 1 in the conference in defensive efficiency (98.7), as well as effective field goal defense (45.9%), 3-point defense (28.1%) and block rate (14.3%).
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There's also one key unknown for the Wolverines: Which players are the Spartans going to feature?
Izzo is doing his best to stick it to the modern game by not only playing a team that only features two transfers, but also consistently playing at least 10 players in his rotation.
The Spartans have seven players averaging at least seven points a game, and 10 averaging at least five.
"Ten players playing 15 minutes or more a game," Church said, shaking his head. "It's a lot. As a coach, I can sit back and watch it, slow down on film and you get a good feel for each of those 10 guys, but now you've got to relay that to the team. And we switch 1 through 4, so there are going to be all sorts of things to figure out.
"Each one of our guys will be guarding eight, nine, 10 guys, so they'll have to know tendencies. ... It'll be a challenge, something our guys take on, but their depth allows them to be so persistent in transition and on the offensive glass."
The Spartans finish strong at the rim, too -- 76.9% of their points this season have come on 2-pointers or free throws, while they're 16th in the 18-team Big Ten in 3-point shooting percentage (32%) in conference play.
U-M's counter, especially on the boards? "Area-51," the 7-footer combo of Vlad Goldin and Danny Wolf.
Goldin, in particular, protects the rim, and the Wolverines can also throw in zones at times -- a particular weakness for MSU this year (as it was in a home loss to Indiana).
Last year, MSU swept U-M in the season series, capped by Spartans fans taking over Crisler Center with chants of "Go Green! Go White!" in mid-February 2024, a microcosm of the worst season in program history for the Wolverines.
With first place in the Big Ten on the line Friday, that's not expected to be the case Friday.
"It's what you play for. It's why I came to Michigan," Wolf said. "It's why we're all here. This is what makes Big Ten basketball, college basketball, so exciting: games like this, this late in the season, a storied rivalry. As loud as it's going to be, I hope it's going to mostly be for us."
Tony Garcia is the Michigan Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at [email protected] and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.