Michigan puts aside rivalry for touching tribute to Michigan State shooting victims

Michigan basketball found a touching way to honor the victims of the recent Michigan State shooting before their rivalry game on Saturday.

Rivalry makes college basketball great. Rivalries can feel like the biggest and most important ways to express passion at times. But sometimes rivalries have to be put aside. Sometimes bigger things remind us all that we’re all human, regardless of the colors we wear on game day.

That’s what happened on Saturday when Michigan basketball bathed their court in green, the color of the rival Michigan State Spartans.

Before the game between the Wolverines and Spartans on Saturday night, Michigan honored the victims of the shooting that took place on MSU’s campus on Monday evening. Three Michigan State students were killed and others were injured.

How Michigan basketball honored the victims of the Michigan State shooting

Michigan fans would have never dreamed of welcoming the color green in their home arena with open arms before this week. But some things are bigger than sports, especially a tragedy of that magnitude on any college campus.

On Saturday, family and friends buried 20-year-old Brian Fraser and 20-year-old Alexandria Verner in separate services in Detroit, according to the Detroit Free-Press. A memorial for the third victim, 19-year-old Arielle Anderson, was also held on the day.

It’s hard to flip the switch from mourning to cheering in a basketball arena. Sadly, it’s something sports fans have grown accustomed to. This week it was a shooting at Michigan State. Just a couple of months ago it was a shooting at the University of Virginia, which resulted in the death of three Cavalier football players.

Saturday night’s game against Michigan was the first for Michigan State since the shooting. Their matchup with Minnesota scheduled for Wednesday was postponed in light of the tragedy.