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basketball's offense could be edge vs. Michigan State

Here we go again: Michigan-Michigan State, Part III. It’s what you wanted. What the teams wanted. What the coaches wanted. Just as in the teams’ last meeting a week ago, the Big Ten title is on the line. This time in the conference tournament. This is how it should be, of course. No interlopers — sorry, Purdue. And nothing but Green and White and Maize and Blue dividing the United Center on Sunday, an arena town between alumni for both schools. What’s at stake? A title, of course. A third straight conference tournament crown for John Beilein. A third straight win in the rivalry for Tom Izzo. And bragging rights, likely for a year, that MSU thought it had claimed a week ago. Well, the Spartans must win again to keep them. And the Wolverines must to win to regain them. This isn’t about legacy — both coaches secured theirs long ago . Or about Round 3 of Zavier Simpson versus Cassius Winston. Or about the return of Charles Matthews and Nick Ward, and which player will make the biggest difference. No, it’s more about relief. Or a sense of peace. Yeah, there will be joy to the victor and anguish to the vanquished. It’s a rivalry, remember? The best in the Big Ten — a conference these two schools currently own —at the moment. It was easier to dismiss the Wolverines’ improved offensive flow Friday night when they blasted Iowa — a team that plays defense in theory; Iowa is the worst defensive team in the Big Ten. But after watching U-M pick apart Minnesota , a much tougher — and physical — team, we may be witnessing the beginning of a trend. This isn’t surprising: Beilein’s teams often get better offensively this time of year. No sequence showed the newfound flow better than a made three-pointer from Simpson early in the second half. After grabbing a rebound off a shot that missed the rim, Jon Teske inbounded the ball with three seconds left on the shot clock. He threw an overhead pass to Isaiah Livers who caught it near the baseline on the opposite side. The pass was high. Livers leapt, fell back and redirected it to Simpson, who calmly hit the shot. Simpson doesn’t need to make a bucket of threes for U-M to roll. But when he hits a few, the juice seems to uplift the team. The two-day blitz here in Chicago isn’t just Simpson, though. It starts with Ignas Brazdeikis, who found his way through midseason doldrums and is shooting from distance as well as he has all season — close to 60 percent from 3-point range in the last four games. If Brazdeikis is the engine, then Livers is the gas. The sophomore forward dropped a season-high 21 points Saturday. He made eight of his ten shots and four of his six 3-point attempts. He didn’t hesitate to shoot. Nor did he float to the side as he rose up, as he sometimes does. It looked pure and relaxed and confident, with a mental rhythm he struggles to find consistently. That's a result, said U-M assistant coach DeAndre Haynes, of not understanding how good he can be. Haynes and the rest of the staff spent the winter trying to get Livers to understand who he is as a player, to see what he can become. He arrived in Ann Arbor with good size and better skill, and while he’s still needs to shed a few pounds and get stronger, his future was easy to see against Minnesota. When Matthews missed the last three games of the regular season with a foot injury, Livers slid into the starting lineup. The extra minutes settled him, and he was critical in helping U-M win at Maryland. He has carried that same easy attitude with him back to the bench. No wonder he is playing like a starter when he jumps off the bench. Contact Shawn Windsor: 313-222-6487 or swindsor@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @shawnwindsor.