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If Michigan State and Michigan weren’t rivals, this would already be big enough of a deal. But since they are heated foes, it only makes the Big Ten’s biggest game of the season to date even more intense as the two meet for the first time this season on Friday night in Ann Arbor.

The game will be for first place in the conference as the No. 12 Wolverines (20-5, 12-2 Big Ten) hold the top spot, but only by a 1/2 game over the 14th-ranked Spartans (21-5, 12-3).

“We know what it means,” Michigan head coach Dusty May said succinctly.

The Wolverines are red-hot, having won six in a row, the latest being an 86-83 triumph at Ohio State on Sunday. Every win during their streak has been by four points or fewer.

The team is led by a duo of 7-footers nicknamed “Area 50-1.” Transfers Vladislav Goldin (No. 50) and Danny Wolf (No. 1) have become Michigan’s centerpieces offensively and defensively, with their ability to play multiple positions and create mismatches.

Wolf, in particular (12.9 ppg, 10 rpg, 3.6 apg), often plays point guard and runs effective pick-and-roll plays to get open shots for himself, Goldin (15.7 ppg) near the basket, or other teammates on the perimeter. Against Ohio State, Wolf and Goldin scored 10 times when teaming up on the pick-and-roll.

“Some teams can defend it better than others just based on personnel,” May said. “But we’ve tried to just find ways to hide it, to camouflage it, to use it as a decoy, to use it as an overreaction to get someone else a shot. So, just trying to be strategic of not using it too much. But also using it enough because it’s extremely effective when executed properly.”

Michigan State, coming off back-to-back wins at Illinois and home versus Purdue, doesn’t have a Goldin or Wolf in the frontcourt. But the Spartans have a stable of guards who can defend and run the floor and more depth overall than Michigan.

The Spartans have only two players averaging double figures (Jaden Akins at 13.1 ppg and Jase Richardson at 10.4 ppg) but can go 10-deep and wear opponents out. That includes the four big men they’ll throw at Goldin and Wolf: Jaxon Kohler, Szymon Zapala, Carson Cooper and Xavier Booker.

The Spartans are in the midst of a brutal stretch of games against Quad 1 opponents that doesn’t end when they leave Ann Arbor Friday night.

Michigan State’s games at No. 20 Maryland and 11th-ranked Wisconsin loom afterward, but it hopes to avoid falling further behind Michigan in the Big Ten race.

“We don’t need anybody to beat anybody,” Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo said. “We just got to take care of our business. It’s a task.

“But if we can take care of our business, what a way to do it.”

–Field Level Media