• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Michigan St looks to remain perfect at home

Jan 27, 2008 - 4:21 PM Michigan (5-14) at No. 10 Michigan St (17-2) 1:00 pm EST

EAST LANSING, Michigan (Ticker) - Despite just one loss in conference play, Michigan State finds itself looking up at three teams in the standings.

The 10th-ranked Spartans look to maintain their perfect record at home and extend their recent domination of instate rival Michigan when they host the Wolverines in a Big Ten conference tilt on Sunday.

Michigan State (17-2, 5-1 Big Ten) is unbeaten in 11 games at the Breslin Center and has won 15 straight here since a loss to national champion runner-up Ohio State on February 3, 2007. Another victory Sunday will help the Spartans keep pace with Indiana, Wisconsin and Purdue as each already has six wins in conference play.

Even though the Spartans dropped their last meeting with the Wolverines last February, Michigan State is 14-3 in their last 17 contests in the series, including nine straight home wins.

The Spartans won for the 14th time in 15 games on Thursday, getting 23 points from Raymar Morgan and 20 more Drew Neitzel in 78-62 win at Northwestern.

Michigan State finished a season-best 11-of-18 from 3-point range, contributing to a 60 percent shooting (29-for-48) effort from the field overall.

On the other end of the spectrum are the Wolverines (5-14, 1-6), who have lost three straight and eight of nine contests. Michigan has struggled under first-year coach John Beilein with the worst defense in the Big Ten and the 10th-ranked offense.

However, the Wolverines showed definite improvement in both categories in their last game, a 64-61 loss to Wisconsin on Tuesday. Freshman Manny Harris scored a season-high 26 points to pace Michigan.