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Dusty May on Jeremy Fears Jr. trip on Yaxel Lendeborg, bizarre moments from MSU: 'Several plays that were very dangerous'

clayton-sayfieby: Clayton Sayfie02/02/26CSayf23

Michigan Wolverines basketball out-classed Michigan State in an 83-71 win in East Lansing — in more ways than one. The losing coach, MSU’s Tom Izzo, said afterward there were “bizarre” calls and plays, and that he believed Michigan’s Dusty May, who’s made a Final Four this decade, would agree.

May absolutely does. Bizarre, yes, and “dangerous,” too.

After kicking the ball out to a teammate, MSU point guard Jeremy Fears Jr., for example, tripped Michigan graduate forward Yaxel Lendeborg, who was closing out on a shooter in the corner.

“Appeared [to trip him]? I mean, it wasn’t an illusion,” May said.

It was one of many rough moments from Fears, who multiple times appeared more concerned with tricking the officials to draw fouls than make plays for his team. He also flopped while initiating contact with Michigan sophomore guard L.J. Cason when getting up from off the ground, to name another example.

“I think there were several plays that were very dangerous, and I am incredibly proud of our guys for the responses they had to some of those situations,” May continued. “Incredibly proud of their self-control, their restraint and their impulse control. I’ll leave it at that.”

A few seconds later, May aded: “But they’re not isolated incidents.”

“The film is there. Forty minutes of it. It’s not hard to find. It’s not hard to find.”

May was asked if he’s reached out to the Michigan State staff regarding the dirty play from the Spartans. He responded with, “I have not reached out to their staff, no.”

Michigan led by as many as 18 and trailed for only 24 seconds in the Wolverines’ first win at MSU since 2018. The Maize and Blue didn’t carry the burden of past teams’ setbacks in that building into the game, though. Instead, May told his group that “this team has never played here,” channeling Indiana head football coach Curt Cignetti, who used the same line in an interview before the Hoosiers took on Penn State in Happy Valley this past fall.

But impulse control is also something May wanted to see from his team, as he shared pregame.

“Most importantly, discipline and impulse control,” May said in his pregame speech in the locker room. “Discipline and impulse control! We need each other, fellas, when you’re in an environment like this. Guys, think about it, everyone in the country is sitting, watching this game and wanting to be you right now. Every fan is sitting here wanting their team to be in this environment, in this situation right now. Let’s go have fun with it, man. We need each other.”

Michigan stuck together well, avoided the riff raff from the MSU side and came away with a resounding win. By the end of it, U-M fans were singing ‘Happy Birthday’ to Izzo, who turned 71 on Friday. Most importantly, Michigan stood atop the Big Ten standings at the end as it prepares for Penn State Thursday.