Michigan State will finish the men’s basketball regular season with a showdown at Indiana. The Spartans need a win to bolster their NCAA tournament chances.
Michigan State ’s men’s basketball team will travel to Indiana to face off against the streaking Hoosiers. Indiana has struggled overall this year (17-13), but is in the midst of a three game win streak. Indiana only sits a game behind Michigan State in the conference standings, and could be a big challenge to a Spartan team still trying to find their balance after an end of season slide.
Game Time: Sunday, March 10th at 4:30 pm (US East Coast Time)
Watch the game: CBS
Comment and Follow Live at the GAME THREAD HERE (live at 2:30pm)
Some basics to sound like a pro:
Michigan State:
Michigan State is coming off a much needed win against Northwestern. The 53-49 win felt anything but convincing and needed heroic efforts from fifth year seniors Malik Hall (17 rebounds) and Tyson Walker (19 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals).
The offensive problems for Michigan State are real. In the win against Northwestern Hall, Walker and Tre Holloman (off the bench with 12) scored in double figures. The rest of the team combined scored a total of 7 points. That included a foul shot for Mady Sissoko and 6-points for senior point guard AJ Hoggard. The team shot a collective 31.7% from the field, 65% from the free throw line and an atrocious 11.8% from three.
The Spartans are still searching for an answer at the center position as recent insertion into the rotation freshman Xavier Booker came back down to earth (0 points, 0 rebounds). The four players to play at the position against Northwestern contributed a combined 1 point (the group did combine for 10 rebounds).
Michigan State needs to figure itself out and fast. Big Ten tournament seeding is on the line and so too is potentially the NCAA Tournament.
Indiana University
The Hoosiers have been a textbook middle of the road team. They’ve played some big teams tight (a notable performances against then number 2 Kansas saw them lose in the final minutes) as well as get blown out by most of the top tier of the Big Ten (ugly losses to Purdue, Wisconsin – back when they were good – and even Nebraska).
The big problem for the Spartans is who leads Indiana: Kel’El Ware. The Sophomore center leads his team with 15.7 points a game and 9.7 rebounds. Even if MSU can stop Ware, they have to worry about another sophomore, Malik Reneau who is also averaging 15.7 points and 6 rebounds. This front court is, to put it mildly, “going to be a problem” for Michigan State.
Indiana is only averaging 73 points a game per season. If Michigan State can regain its mid-season form on scoring, this could mean the Spartans could simply outscore the interior dominance of the Hoosiers.
The problem is that will require Jaden Akins (and others) to rediscover how to make a long distance basket. If that doesn’t happen, this could be a slug fest.
Predictions:
BBD: 67-61 Michigan State win
What are your predictions for the game? Let everyone know in the comments below.