Michigan's Darius Morris (4) and Michigan State's Kalin Lucas (1) have constantly been mentioned in the same breath since Saturday's post-game dramatics at Crisler Arena.

Melanie Maxwell | AnnArbor.com

Three days after a little post-game banter with Michigan State guard Kalin Lucas, Michigan's Darius Morris isn't overly concerned with being cast as the bad guy.

A day after both Michigan basketball coach John Beilein and Michigan State's Tom Izzo declared the issue dead, the Wolverines' sophomore guard caught in the middle had little to add.

Asked Tuesday if he felt the controversy portrayed him in a negative light, Morris laughed off the incident and an off-hand comment left on his Twitter account.

"Nah, it's fine," Morris said. "There was nothing serious behind it. I found the whole situation funny. I took the Tweet off (his account) and so I don't want to comment much on it for obvious reasons. It's just interesting what a couple of wins (over Michigan State) will do."

The dramatic dust-up occurred after Morris did a little chirping after late lay-up against the Spartans on Saturday. Moments later, the players were separated when they came chest to chest at midcourt. Izzo suggested Morris instigated the whole thing by talking trash throughout the afternoon.

Morris said he doesn't talk to opponents nearly as much as he used to.

"I've really stopped. At the beginning of the season, whenever a comment was made I would retaliate. But I think I did a good job the second half of the season. I haven't been trash talking at all," Morris said.

"During the Michigan State game here, I hadn't trash talked the whole game until time expired. Even though comments are made at me all the time by different players on the court, but that's just the nature of the game and at Michigan State, the same thing happened.

"The only reason I started talking trash was because their players started talking to me first. I just showed my teammates I wasn't going to back down."

Not so ready for prime time

Beilein said Tuesday he has not paid much attention to an ESPN 30 for 30 documentary on The Fab Five that will air Sunday night.

The 90-minute look back at the controversial group of former Michigan players will be "The Bible of the Fab Five story," former Michigan guard Jalen Rose said in a teleconference with reporters Tuesday.

Beilein, who was coaching at LeMoyne and Canisius during the Fab Five era in Ann Arbor, said he didn't feel equipped to put their time at Michigan into perspective.

"I haven't seen (the film) and I'll be at the Big Ten tournament (Sunday), but I don't know what's in it. While I recognize what a great time that was, I'm not a historian," Beilein said. "I didn't follow it as closely probably as some other people did.

"But I'll research it more and I'll be interested in watching it."

Who's ready?

Beilein said he hasn't determined freshman Jon Horford's availability for Friday's Big Ten tournament opener against Illinois (approximately 2:30 p.m., ESPN).

Beilein said Horford wouldn't go full-speed during Tuesday's two-hour practice and that his role wouldn't be determined until later this week. Because of Illinois' size, Beilein said Horford, who has been dealing with a nagging knee injury, could fit into a rotation of players used if Michigan's bigs get into foul trouble against the Illini.

"I don't think we'll go based on height on this one," Beilein said. "It will be based on who the five guys whose habits and understanding of what we're doing fit us best. If he's one of them, he would be in there."

Beilein said he would also use Tuesday's practice to determine the health status of Morris and junior guard Stu Douglass. He said the two guards would split time in practice, giving Matt Vogrich and Eso Akunne a chance to get some reps as the Wolverines prepare for this weekend's trip to Indianapolis.

Morris and Douglass were both slowed by flu-like symptoms during the Michigan State game.

Jeff Arnold covers Michigan sports for AnnArbor.com and can be reached at (734) 623-2554 or by e-mail at jeffarnold@annarbor.com. Follow him on Twitter @jeffreyparnold.