Michigan State basketball will face Michigan without Dug McDaniel

Michigan has suspended star point guard Dug McDaniel for the next six away games, including the game with Michigan State basketball.

Michigan’s trip to face Michigan State basketball at the Breslin Center on Jan. 30 will not include its full arsenal.

Dug McDaniel suspended

Around 7 p.m. ET on Wednesday night, news broke that Dug McDaniel, the Wolverines’ star point guard, would begin serving a six-game road suspension but would be eligible for home games.

The news broke a mere 24 hours before Michigan travels to Maryland for its 16th game of the year.

Here is a statement from Michigan head coach Juwan Howard:

Statement from Juwan Howard on Dug McDaniel pic.twitter.com/SPgGVeG4rT

— Blue By 90 (@bluebyninety) January 11, 2024

As well as a statement from McDaniel’s personal X account:

Stay down 0🙏🏽 pic.twitter.com/lHV3Pdypoc

— Dug McDaniel (@AyooFlyy) January 11, 2024

Unusually, McDaniel is only suspended for road games but it’s what was decided upon. Here are the six games that McDaniel is slated to miss: Maryland (Jan. 11), Purdue (Jan. 23), Michigan State (Jan. 30), Nebraska (Feb. 10), Illinois (Feb. 13), and Northwestern (Feb. 22).

Impact on Michigan State vs. Michigan

Last season, when the Spartans were defeated 84-72 in Ann Arbor, McDaniel made a huge impact on the game.

He was Michigan’s leading scorer with 18 points and also contributed four of both assists and rebounds. Dug was a big part of the second-half comeback that evened the season series between the Spartans and Wolverines.

Flash forward to this year and Dug has taken a huge step forward. He’s improved statistically in every major statistic averaging 17.8 points, 5.1 assists, and 4.1 rebounds. He leads the team in scoring and assists, drawing the primary focus of opponents.

Without McDaniel this year, Michigan will be in trouble. With a lousy record of 6-9, the team is not doing great with him, so it will be quite the adventure seeing what they are like without him.

In a matchup where Michigan State basketball should have the upper hand regardless, this suspension greatly improves their chances of victory on January 30th.

Final thoughts

To conclude, I just wanted to wish Dug well academically. Even last year watching him his talent was so obvious, and it was fairly easy to tell he was going to be a star. I hope that he can get back on track and continue to play at such a high level.

For the time being, the Wolverines will have to find a replacement for Dug’s minutes, and it should help MSU to victory in less than a month.

Go Green.