Game 31: Michigan at Michigan State Preview

Battered, bruised and defeated, Michigan heads to its most challenging game of the year, at its lowest moment. The Wolverines are officially eliminated from Big Ten contention, lost back-to-back home games and are playing their worst stretch of basketball — a stretch that began with a deflating home loss to Michigan State five games ago.

Now, the Wolverines head to East Lansing (Sunday, noon, CBS) to try to flip the script against a Michigan State team ready for a coronation. The Spartans are returning home as outright Big Ten champs, playing their best basketball of the season, and looking to celebrate Senior Night, raise a banner, and face their in-state rivals.

Michigan’s regular season dreams are dashed, but the postseason looms. The Wolverines are searching for any sort of form to wrap up the regular season before single-elimination basketball begins.

Because these two teams just met a couple of weeks ago, this preview will take a new format and focus primarily on the keys and takeaways from the last meeting.