Whether people like it or not, Tre Holloman stood on business near the end of Sunday’s Michigan vs. Michigan State game at the Breslin Center.

Customary to tradition, each Spartan senior gets subbed out of the final home game of the season and kisses the center of the Spartan logo before heading to the bench.

It’s a tradition that started with Shawn Respert in 1995 and continued with greats like Mateen Cleaves, Draymond Green, Cassius Winston and more.

Tradition is something coach Tom Izzo takes very seriously.

“When you see a tradition that now our hockey team does, and our women’s team, and our softball team, and our soccer team, and our baseball team, that’s who we are,” he said after the game. “And I’m damn proud of that.”

As seen in the clip below, Frankie Fidler kissed the logo with two Wolverines, L.J. Cason and Phat Phat Brooks, standing at center court, despite Jaden Akins and Holloman motioning for them to move.

When Szymon Zapala was dapping up his teammates on the court and preparing to take his turn with the customary kiss, Holloman took matters into his own hands and shoved Cason and Brooks.

Nothing more substantial occurred besides a quick separation of the two teams.

Whether the two Michigan players who stood at mid-court knew about the tradition or not, Holloman knew he wasn't going to let them stand there.

“They’re going to let him kiss the floor whether they move or I got to move him,” Holloman said after the game in a conversation with Owen Oszust of WILX News 10 Sports.

Holloman added that he is not sorry for what he did and he did it for the former players.

“Former players are texting me, ‘don’t let anybody disrespect our tradition,’ so I was just trying to defend them too,” Holloman told Spartans Illustrated in the locker room after the game.

Since he shoved the two Michigan players, Holloman has received texts from former Spartan point guard legends like Cleaves and Winston.

“I wanted our seniors to have their moment,” Holloman said matter of factly.

After the senior day and Big Ten championship celebrations, Izzo motioned Holloman over to kiss the Spartan head - despite him not being a senior - because he stood up for the tradition.

“If it happened like I heard, I’m still not gonna let Tre get away with it, but I’m not going to be quite as mad with him as I would’ve been,” Izzo said during his post-game press conference. “At the same time, we have to make sure we handle ourself right or we’re no better than anyone else."

Izzo, of all people, understands that rivalries sometimes spill over.

“It wasn’t the end of the world," he said. "Maybe (the Michigan players) did what they needed to do and we did what we needed to do. That’s what rivalries are all about. If everybody is out there hugging and kissing, it’s probably not a rivalry.”

Michigan coach Dusty May also commented on the incident at the end of Sunday’s game.

“I didn’t know there was a tradition where they’re shooting a free throw and we (can’t) have guys standing at half court,” May said, already knowing the answer to his own question. “There’s not a tradition where we can’t stand at half court as the game is going on? I’m not familiar with that one. Is that a tradition?"

Then, May gave the Spartans some credit.

“It took a while, but we’re fine with that,” May added about the kissing the Spartan tradition. “They’ve earned the right for that. The seniors have poured their hearts out. As far as whatever happened, are we not allowed to stand at halfcourt while they’re shooting a free throw? You are. They earned the right to rub our noses in. It is what it is.”

The Big Ten Tournament is up next for Michigan State. The Spartans are the No. 1 seed and will take on the winner of Thursday's Indiana vs. Oregon game.

Michigan State’s quarterfinal game in the Big Ten Tournament from Indianapolis will be on Friday at noon.

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