ANN ARBOR, Michigan -- The No. 10 Michigan State Spartans won 89-73 over the Michigan Wolverines on Saturday afternoon at the Crisler Center. It was the first lopsided loss for Michigan at home against Michigan State since the 91-64 victory for the Spartans in 2001. 

"It's hard to say what went right, what went wrong. We executed pretty well," Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo said. "When you make shots, everything changes."

Leading the way for the Spartans (20-4, 7-4 Big Ten) was Bryn Forbes. The guard shot 10-for-13 from the field (8-for-10 from three-point range) to total 29 points. The scoring was great, but Forbes did not record a rebound or assist. Right next to him was Denzel Valentine, who scored 21 points and logged nine rebounds and eight assists. 

Forbes made his first five shots of the game, which all came from out of the area code to give himself a quick 15 points. The guard hit two threes inside of 45 seconds left in first half, which gave Michigan State a 44-28 lead at the break. 

"I think we're playing really well right now," Forbes said. "We started clicking again, I'd say."

Michigan tried to bounced back in the second half and played even the rest of the way, but it was not enough as the offense of Michigan State were able to easily keep up throughout the entirety of the game. Duncan Robinson, a guard known for his outstanding three-point shot, went 1-for-5 from the field and 0-for-3 from beyond the arc. The sophomore who was averaging 12.5 points per game coming into the game only had two points. 

Matt Costello poured the ball through the net from inside with 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting. He picked up eight rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block for Michigan State.

"I'm worried a little bit about becoming a three-point shooting team. I don't want that. I want to be able to shoot three," Izzo said. "But we've got to be a balanced team, get it inside, get it outside."

Kenny Goins, a forward, let the Michigan State bench with five points, three rebounds and a single assist. As a matter of fact, the Spartans had 12-of-14 players score against the Maize and Blue. 

The Wolverines (17-7, 7-4 Big Ten) got a 19 point scoring outburst from Zak Irvin, but he went 8-for-16 from the field and 2-for-6 from the three-point line. The guard was able to add three rebounds and one assist.

"To say I'm ecstatic about the performance would be underserving what we did," Izzo said.

Background Information

Michigan were obviously behind offensively and defensively without superstar Caris LeVert, who has missed the last 10 games with a lower left leg injury. They will look to get him back in the near future. Michigan is now 1-6 on the season against teams in the Top 25 rankings.

"We're obviously a better team with Caris out there," Wolverines coach John Beilein said. "Today, I don't know if it makes a difference."

Seven of the first eight shots went down for the Spartans, which set a ton for the rest of the game. Michigan played even with Michigan State in the second half, but it was the lack of defense in the first half that lost the game for the Maize and Blue. 

The Spartans have won four straight over the Wolverines. Michigan will only battle Michigan State once in the regular season, but the two parties could meet in the Big Ten Tournament or in the NCAA Tournament. 

Up Next

Michigan State will play on the road against the No. 18 Purdue Boilermakers on Tuesday night and Michigan will play at the Minnesota Golden Gophers on Wednesday night.