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Michigan basketball has no trouble with Minnesota, as MSU looms

MINNEAPOLIS — The first meeting between Michigan and Minnesota wasn't decided until the final second. There was no such drama this time. The seventh-ranked Wolverines led for all but four minutes of Thursday night's game at Williams Arena, putting together a nearly complete performance in a 69-60 win over the Golden Gophers. Michigan (24-3, 13-3 Big Ten) limited Minnesota (17-10, 7-9) to 18 first-half points in opening up a double-digit lead, and made 13-of-28 3-pointers. The Wolverines were paced by Jordan Poole's game-high 22 points, and Jon Teske added 17 points, seven rebounds and five blocks. The win tied Wolverines with Michigan State atop the Big Ten conference standings , three days ahead of a gargantuan matchup between the two top-10 teams at Crisler Center on Sunday afternoon. Three takeaways from Thursday: That was one of the uglier first halves in recent memory. A flurry of blocks, steals and contested shots led to a 28-18 Michigan lead at halftime. The Golden Gophers tried to attack Teske down low with little success. Minnesota shot 7-of-17 on layups in the first half and scored just eight second-chance points despite grabbing 11 offensive rebounds. Michigan's ability to contest shots without fouling was the difference. Teske and point guard Zavier Simpson were especially effective. Teske had three first-half blocks and made life difficult for Amir Coffey and Jordan Murphy, Minnesota's leading two scorers, all game. Simpson had three steals, including two where he simply ripped the ball away from Minnesota players. His counterpart, point guard Dupree McBrayer, finished with seven points on 2-for-8 shooting. Entering Thursday's game, Poole had been shooting 27.8 percent from 3-point range over Michigan's previous 10 games. The Wolverines averaged 31 percent from 3 as a team over the previous five games. That didn't include a 3-for-22 performance against Minnesota in the first game. Thursday night, Poole looked like his old self. He started 3-of-4 from the field, making two 3s, and finished 5-of-9 from outside. Teske rebounded from a poor shooting performance in Saturday's win over Maryland. After shooting 4-of-13 from the field and 1-of-7 from 3 against the Terrapins, he made 7-of-11 shots against Minnesota, making 3-of-6 3s. Poole and Teske combined for eight of Michigan's 13 3s, and the Wolverines shot 46.4 percent as a team from outside. The offense generates open looks. It's a matter of whether Michigan can knock them down consistently. We've waited all season for Sunday's game. Michigan and Michigan State. Two bitter in-state rivals who happen to be tied atop the conference standings and are among the best teams in the country. Both teams have been the class of the conference for most of the season, and seem to have put any struggles behind them. Sunday's game at Crisler Center will be the first in the two-game series, which will have serious implications for the Big Ten title. There's a chance a split paves the way for Purdue — a half-game back at 12-3 — to win the regular-season title. But the prime-time game Sunday afternoon between two top-10 teams with plenty of history between them is exciting. Contact Orion Sang at osang@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @orion_sang. Read more on the Michigan Wolverines and sign up for our Wolverines newsletter.