ANN ARBOR — In so many ways, the scene inside Crisler Center on Friday night was drastically different from the Michigan-Michigan State matchup this time last year. The Wolverines were in first place in the Big Ten. Their own fans filled the arena, with only a small faction of Spartan supporters. Their head coach was not on the hot seat but had been given a contract extension hours before tipoff.

Michigan had earned the right to make the rivalry meaningful beyond bragging rights.

The game, though, ended with the same result as last time: a double-digit loss for Michigan.

“Lost in rivalry stuff sometimes is that there’s a basketball game that requires execution and it requires poise,” Michigan head coach Dusty May said. “We didn’t look like a more poised, veteran team tonight. And I think for the most part this year, we’ve looked like a really connected, veteran group.”

Michigan’s six-game win streak and undefeated record at home this season vanished with a dreadful second half. Michigan State ended the night in first place as a result.

Forward Danny Wolf summed it up like this: “I thought we didn’t play as hard as we should have. I thought we didn’t rebound as well as we should have. I thought we didn’t play together as well as we could have.”

That last point is the most concerning and surprising. May had praised his team for its togetherness in recent weeks. For whatever reason, that wasn’t the case on Friday.

“When things got tough, we splintered,” Wolf said.

Michigan led by as many as eight late in the first half and by four at halftime. The lead probably should have been bigger. Regardless, Michigan State quickly erased it. Tre Holloman caught fire from 3, helping the Spartans push their lead to eight midway through the second half. The margin swelled to 11, and though Michigan made a run, it wasn’t enough.

The 3-point shooting disparity was unexpected. Michigan State was 9 for 22. Michigan was 5 for 21. “We really haven’t shot it well in probably three or four weeks,” May said, adding that some of the attempts were rushed or out of rhythm. “We just didn’t move the ball with the crispness and we didn’t cut with the same level of pace that we typically do.”

The Spartans’ 14 offensive rebounds were more predictable. That’s what they do. “They out-toughed us on the glass,” Wolf said. May felt the Wolverines let their play on one side of the court affect them at the other end. They didn’t guard the ball well enough either, he said, and those breakdowns led to Michigan being out of position for rebounds.

The Wolverines felt they were prepared for the intensity of what was, for many of them, their first taste of the rivalry. May said Michigan had a good week of practice, that his guys were prepared and excited for the challenge.

It didn’t translate to Friday night. Michigan plays again on Monday, at Nebraska, and still controls its own destiny in the Big Ten title race because of the rematch with Michigan State to close the regular season.

“Tonight we didn’t look like a championship-caliber program,” May said. “But this group’s proved all year that we respond, we unify when things don’t go well. So there’s no reason to expect anything different.”

His message to the Wolverines was that the loss can’t turn into two, that they couldn’t “hang their heads and mope” given the position they’re in with five regular-season games left.

This time last year, Michigan State fans took over Crisler during a season in which Michigan finished 8-24 and fired its head coach. This time around was nothing like that, except for the final score. The Wolverines are still in the hunt for a championship, and Friday’s loss didn’t change that.

“Obviously tonight stings,” Wolf said. “There’s a lot that goes into this game. But everything we want is still ahead of us.”

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