It started early and ended late, and the game ended somewhere in between. Hunter Dickinson scored on Michigan's first possession and came back for more, flexing and shouting as he lay claim to the paint, pumping his arms to rev up the crowd, a tower of terror in a total win for the Wolverines.
Michigan State got the game it needed last Saturday against Purdue. This was the one Michigan needed to mount a charge in March, at home against its rival, riding its best player from start to finish. Dickinson was more than the Spartans could handle, and he let them know after every bucket by glaring and barking at their bench on the way back down the floor. Late in the game, Tom Izzo objected to the refs. But Dickinson had already made his point.
“Hey man, I feel like that’s the Michigan-Michigan State rivalry,” Dickinson said. “You’re not friendly out there. Those aren’t your friends, so it’s not gonna be a hug and kiss kind of game.”
For Dickinson, it was a bump and jump kind of game instead. The Spartans kept guarding him with one man down low, and Dickinson kept making them pay. At one end, he notched four blocks, as many as Michigan State had as a team. He scored a career-high 33 points at the other, the bulk of them in the second half. Any time the Spartans cracked open the door, Dickinson was there to slam it shut. Michigan led by 16 at the half and by 17 at the finish, an 87-70 final.
When Dickinson and Izzo met at the back of the handshake line, neither lingered long. No smiles or slaps on the back. No signs of admiration like there were a month ago, at least from Izzo’s side, after the Spartans smacked the Wolverines in East Lansing.
“I remember after the game at Michigan State, Coach Izzo had a lot to say to me, a lot of good things. And after this game he didn’t say anything, so I feel like he got a little upset,” Dickinson said with a smile. “But I don’t take it personally.”
(They did shake hands, for the record. “You heard his quote,” Dickinson quipped. “He’s going to shake hands regardless, right? He’s a man of his word.)
Dickinson scored 25 that day in East Lansing, but none of it came easy. And all of it was ultimately futile. He filled it up at will this time, dropping in lefty hooks low in the paint and stepping out to hit a few jumpers. The punctuation mark was an and-1 slam on a baseline drive that cranked the volume at Crisler as Dickinson strutted halfway down the floor. Before the game, Phil Martelli told assistant coach Howard Eisley, who’s calling offensive plays in Juward Howard’s absence, that if Dickinson got up 19 shots Michigan would win. He went 13-19 from the field.
“He showed why he’s an All-American,” said Terrance Williams, who drained three triples to help Michigan break things open in the first half. “He should be a first-team All-American this year.”
“In his bag,” said Caleb Houstan, who was in his bag himself with an easy 16 points.
At the request of assistant coach Saddi Washington, Dickinson said he summoned his “alter ago” for a game Michigan couldn’t afford to lose. It almost got him in trouble when Martelli sat him down for provoking the Spartans’ bench in the second half and told him, “Just let it be about your game.” It also got the Wolverines out of trouble, for now, ahead of clashes with Iowa and Ohio State to close out the season. While they try not to think about it much, Dickinson said “it’s kind of obvious at this point” that they’re playing for their NCAA Tournament lives.
He said with Tuesday’s win, “Hopefully they can stop putting us on the bubble. Hopefully we can cement ourselves and not be as nervous come Selection Sunday.”
It’s been a season of alter egos for Michigan, now 10-8 in the Big Ten. The Wolverines have alternated wins and losses for the last seven games, part of a 9-8 stretch since late December. On Tuesday they were punishing in the paint, where they outscored the Spartans by 18 points, and precise from the perimeter, where they shot almost 60 percent from three. With Houstan and fellow five-star freshman Moussa Diabate growing egos of their own, this young team might make some noise yet.
With its loudest player leading the way.