John Beilein received an e-mail all the way from Asia. Stu Douglass' Facebook page was full of messages from strangers.
For the first time in 14 years, Michigan's men came home from East Lansing with a victory in basketball. After stunning No. 25 Michigan State on Thursday night, the Wolverines were a little taken aback by the reaction.
''I got an e-mail from India,'' said Beilein, who is in his fourth season as Michigan's coach. ''It was from Bob Dolan, who is our dean of the business school. It was really neat.''
The Wolverines took the floor at the Breslin Center on a six-game losing streak, but they departed with their first road win over the Spartans in a dozen trips. Michigan ran its offense with surprising poise, building a 14-point lead early in the second half before holding on for a 61-57 victory.
Douglass made a 3-pointer with 20.2 seconds left to put the Wolverines ahead by five. The win was especially sweet for him and fellow junior Zack Novak, neither of whom had beaten Michigan State.
''I don't even know how to explain everything that was going through everyone's heads,'' Douglass said Friday. ''Losing streak, Breslin - not winning there since '97, I think it was - me and Zack not beating them the last two years. Just so many different things combined.''
Beilein said he also got a congratulatory call from Michigan State athletic director Mark Hollis.
''They have controlled that rivalry for the last 15 years or so,'' Beilein said. ''It's a compliment to them that it means so much to us.''
On a team with no seniors, Novak and Douglass led the way along with sophomore Darius Morris. Novak scored 19 points, including six 3-pointers, and Morris contributed 17 points and eight assists. Amid a typically hostile atmosphere in East Lansing, the Wolverines rarely looked rattled. If a good shot didn't present itself early in a possession, they were willing to pull the ball back out, patiently controlling the tempo while holding off the frustrated Spartans.
When Michigan State finally made a run, pulling within two, Douglass answered with his big shot in the final minute, earning himself some extra attention from Michigan fans all over.
''A lot of people write on my Facebook wall,'' he said. ''And there was like three or four people I knew, out of like 50.''
The Wolverines (12-9, 2-6 Big Ten) start three freshmen, and although they took Kansas to overtime and lost to Ohio State by four, this was their first big win in a while. Michigan was outrebounded 38-13 last weekend by Minnesota, but the Wolverines fought Michigan State to a 29-29 draw on the boards.
Starting forwards Jordan Morgan and Evan Smotrycz combined for only four rebounds, but freshman Tim Hardaway Jr., who is 6-foot-5 with long arms, grabbed eight.
''He's coming out of some of those scuffles, and he's unscathed,'' Beilein said. ''Sometimes you don't want your big men to even go after the rebound, you want them to just box out and stay with their box out. Jordan did that several times. Just stay with your box out and let our guards clean up.''
The Wolverines host Iowa (8-12, 1-7) on Sunday, and they're being careful not to overlook the last-place Hawkeyes. Beilein was asked how dangerous Iowa would be with a conference record of 1-7.
''Just as dangerous as a 1-6 team that went up to East Lansing,'' he said.
The Wolverines do hope their loss to Minnesota last weekend was a turning point. Players held a meeting afterward, and it ended up being the final defeat of their six-game slide.
''A lot of things got cleared up, and we really went back to the basics,'' Morris said. ''I also met with the coaching staff. Everybody's on the same page now, and we're ready to move forward.''
