ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan’s renewed focus on beating Michigan State this year had everything to do with winning on the court, not off of it. Wolverines coach Dusty May spoke of his team’s mindset entering Friday night’s 83-71 win over the Spartans,

Just trying to come along and be the best team that we can be,” Michigan basketball star Yaxel Lendeborg said. "We want to make a deep run in March."

On the heels of a pair of top-10 victories, Michigan basketball's NCAA Tournament standing couldn't be much better: firmly on the one-seed line.

The Wolverines make the short trip to East Lansing to take on the Spartans in a renewal of one of the sport’s rivalries.

Things are starting to heat up in the basketball rivalry between the Wolverines and Spartans

Dusty May's Michigan Wolverines improved to 20-1 on the season with a 12-point road victory over rival Michigan State on Friday, but the Wolverines head men's basketball coach still wasn't over some of the Spartans' play a few days later.

For good reason, KenPom likes Michigan Basketball a LOT down the stretch. Here’s how KenPom projects the rest of the Wolverines’ regular season to go:

"There were several plays that were very dangerous," Michigan coach Dusty May said of MSU's Jeremy Fears Jr. "Film is there, 40 minutes of it."