Five takeaways from Michigan’s home loss to Michigan State

If the Michigan men’s basketball team had one thing going for it heading into its matchup with rival Michigan State, it’s that it hadn’t lost at home to the Spartans in the Juwan Howard era. But as the Howard era continues finding new lows, positive trend lines start becoming harder to find as well. Chalk up the home win streak versus MSU as another relic of days past. 

In a rivalry tilt at Crisler Center that featured a large contingent of Michigan State fans being at times far more vocal than the Wolverines’ own home fans, Michigan stayed in it for a while. The Wolverines starved off a nine-point deficit and eventually built a six-point second half lead. But it was same old same old down the stretch — the Wolverines couldn’t buy a bucket late, and they couldn’t buy a win in the process. 

Here are five takeaways from the 73-63 loss.