Michigan basketball clinches Big Ten title with blowout win vs. Michigan State, 69-50

Michigan basketball just won its first Big Ten championship since the 2013-14 season.

And it did it on Senior Night at Crisler Center — against its biggest rival.

The No. 2 Wolverines clinched the conference title with Thursday night's 69-50 win over Michigan State in Ann Arbor.

Because the Big Ten title will be determined by win percentage this season, Michigan is now guaranteed to finish with a better win percentage than second-place Illinois; even if the Wolverines lose against the Spartans on Sunday and the Illini beat Ohio State on Saturday, Michigan's win percentage of 0.824 would trump Illinois' win percentage of 0.800.

Of course, Thursday's win over Michigan State did not come easily. It was a disjointed contest featuring two teams that were playing their sixth game in 13 and 14 days, respectively, and there were 21 fouls called in the first half.

Franz Wagner led Michigan with 19 points, making 4 of 6 3s. Hunter Dickinson was the team's second-leading scorer with 14 points on 6 of 8 shooting and 10 rebounds.

Michigan breaks game open

Despite a relatively disjointed first half that featured constant foul calls and both teams entering the double bonus, the Wolverines led by 11 at halftime. Michigan State opened up the second half with a quick 4-0 spurt to cut it to single digits. But then Michigan did what it has done to most Big Ten teams: Blow the game wide open before the first timeout of the half.

After the Spartans' first two baskets, Michigan put together a 10-0 run to stretch the lead to 17. The run began and ended with a pair of key pickups on loose balls: First, Dickinson dove on the floor to tip a ball out to a teammate, leading to a 3 from Wagner. Then, Eli Brooks grabbed a long offensive rebound and found Dickinson for a dunk. Michigan State could not recover from that run, and Michigan's lead eventually ballooned to as many as 28 points.

Foul trouble dictates first half

Michigan's best player played just nine minutes in the first half. Why? Foul trouble. Dickinson was called for a moving screen at the 16:31 mark and was immediately subbed out. When he returned four-and-a-half minutes later, he scored seven quick points — two baskets on post-ups against Thomas Kithier and another basket on a roll to the rim — and changed the tide of the game. After another quick break on the bench, Dickinson re-entered the game with just under six minutes; just under two minutes later, though, he picked up his second foul and sat for the remainder of the half. Dickinson was Michigan's most impactful player and could not be stopped one-on-one in the post, forcing Michigan State to eventually begin double teaming him.

Wolverines (and fouls) limit Henry

Aaron Henry is Michigan State's most dangerous player, scoring in double digits in 11 consecutive games, and the Wolverines did a good job of defending him Thursday night. He scored just 14 points on 6 of 15 shooting and had four turnovers.

Henry had a highlight-reel dunk early and then dunked again off a back cut — but otherwise had a poor shooting performance and turned it over three times early in the first half. Franz Wagner's length seemed to bother him, and Henry also ended up missing some shots over smaller defenders that he would normally make.

Henru also picked up his second foul with just under three minutes left in the first half when the officials reviewed a play and charged Henry with a flagrant foul for elbowing Wagner in the face; once Henry exited the game, Michigan ended the first half with a 9-0 run.

Before the benches emptied, the Spartans were averaging 0.71 points per possession — a testament to Michigan's defense and success against Henry.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan basketball clinches Big Ten title with blowout of MSU, 69-50