Saturday's Michigan vs. MSU basketball game postponed

Michigan basketball’s home game with Michigan State has been postponed due to COVID concerns within the U-M program. The Wolverines were slated to host the No. 10 Spartans at Crisler Arena at 2:30 p.m., but the game will now be moved.

On Friday night following medical testing, Michigan fell below the Big Ten Conference roster minimum, with fewer than seven scholarship players available. 

The programs will coordinate with the Big Ten Conference office to reschedule the game.

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Michigan lost at Rutgers Tuesday with a shorthanded roster. Senior forward Brandon Johns, freshman point guard Frankie Collins and sophomore forward Terrance Williams were all out in COVID protocol. Guard Zeb Jackson was a healthy scratch, and big man Jaaron Faulds was also unavailable.

Michigan head coach Juwan Howard acknowledged Friday his team has been struggling just to get bodies on the floor to practice.

“We haven’t been good to go 100 percent,” he said. “We’ve just been figuring out ways to navigate through what we’ve been dealt with COVID and COVID protocol. We’re trying to stay afloat and stay ready, and day by day we’ll continue to keep working to try to get to that point.

“I’ll be honest with you — it’s frustrating. But it’s frustrating for us all in the sports world and non-sports world.”

Howard was pleased with his team’s performance despite a Michigan loss at Rutgers Tuesday.

“I really commend and respect — and always have — and been a big fan of how our guys have been able to deal with adversity,” the Michigan coach continued. “And while that’s not making excuses, we have a type of mentality within our group where we roll up our sleeves and embrace the suck.

“So, I’m not making an excuse, which we never will — we’re a non-excuse-based type of group. What we have, who’s available to play, we trust that each and every guy is going to play hard, play together, play smart and play to win.”

Michigan is 7-6, 1-2 in Big Ten play after the loss to the Scarlet Knights. The Wolverines will host Purdue Tuesday if healthy enough to play, but that game, too, could be in question.

Watch for more on this Michigan basketball development in the hours to come …