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By Megan Armstrong
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The Michigan-Michigan State rivalry is alive and well.
The No. 8 Michigan State Spartans fell to the No. 3 Michigan Wolverines, 90-80, in the regular-season finale. Michigan finished the regular season with a 29-2 record and its 16th Big Ten regular-season title in program history. Michigan State finished 25-6.
In the first half, Michigan State guard Jeremy Fears Jr. was assessed a technical foul for kicking Michigan's Elliot Cadeau. At one point, Michigan fans broke out in a "little brother" chant, which is where Spartans head coach Tom Izzo drew the line.
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"I guess the crowd didn't watch the game because I'm nobody's damn little brother, and neither is my team," Izzo said, according to WILX News 10's Owen Oszust. "I'm really proud of my team and how they played and what they did. I give Michigan a lot of credit. They shot the daylights out of it, especially Yaxel [Lendeborg]. He shot [5-of-6] from three, and they took 100 free throws. That was the difference in the game."
Izzo added, "I ain't taking a backseat to nobody. I don't care what they've done. They deserve what they got — 29-2 — and deserve every bit of it — but we deserved what we got. And we will get better."
Michigan swept the two-game season series against Michigan State for the first time in the regular season since the 2013-14 season. Michigan also defeated Michigan State 83-71 on Jan. 30. The Spartans had gone 2-0 against Michigan the past two seasons.
So, Izzo's refusal to concede superiority to Michigan makes sense from a historical and rivalry perspective, but this season, Michigan has been superior to almost everyone. The only reason Michigan likely won't be the No. 1 overall seed in the upcoming men's NCAA Tournament is that one of its two losses came at the hands of Duke (29-2) on Feb. 21.
Michigan and Michigan State could meet again in the men's Big Ten Tournament next week. The Wolverines are the No. 1 seed, while Michigan State sits at No. 3. Both teams automatically advanced to the quarterfinals, with their first games coming on Friday, March 13.
Selection Sunday is next Sunday, March 15. ESPN's Joe Lunardi currently projects Michigan as the No. 1 seed in the Midwest region and Michigan State as the No. 2 seed in the East region.
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