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Michigan State Basketball: 5 bold predictions for January

By Connor Muldowney

Dec 6, 2016; East Lansing, MI, USA; (Left to right) Michigan State Spartans guard Miles Bridges (not dressed) guard Cassius Winston (5) and guard Kyle Ahrens (0) celebrate from the bench during the second half against the Youngstown State Penguins at Jack Breslin Student Events Center. Spartans win 77-57. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 6, 2016; East Lansing, MI, USA; (Left to right) Michigan State Spartans guard Miles Bridges (not dressed) guard Cassius Winston (5) and guard Kyle Ahrens (0) celebrate from the bench during the second half against the Youngstown State Penguins at Jack Breslin Student Events Center. Spartans win 77-57. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports /
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The month of January will be big for Michigan State basketball and here are five bold predictions.

Losing Miles Bridges in the month of December was rough for Michigan State basketball, but surprisingly enough, the Spartans finished 6-1. If it weren’t for a major upset loss against Northeastern, Michigan State would have been 7-0 in the month with a 2-0 start to Big Ten play and an 11-4 overall mark.

Things are starting to turn around for this team, though. Michigan State has looked like its old self and wins over Minnesota and Northwestern to start conference play seem to feature the Spartans that we are used to seeing.

Tom Izzo’s team is playing tougher and the emergence of Cassius Winston and Nick Ward is only going to work wonders when Miles Bridges returns on Wednesday versus Rutgers. This team is headed in the right direction with 17 games remaining. If Michigan State can win at least 10 of those, it will likely be dancing in March.

Let’s take a look at our five bold predictions for the month of January.

5. Eron Harris returns to form

Dec 10, 2016; East Lansing, MI, USA; Michigan State Spartans guard Eron Harris (14) gets defended by Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles guard Hakeem Rogers (2) during the second half at Jack Breslin Student Events Center. Spartans win 71-63. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 10, 2016; East Lansing, MI, USA; Michigan State Spartans guard Eron Harris (14) gets defended by Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles guard Hakeem Rogers (2) during the second half at Jack Breslin Student Events Center. Spartans win 71-63. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports /

At the start of the season, Eron Harris was expected to be the team’s leading scorer and the go-to guy in clutch situations. He’s a senior and was looking to be a leader like Denzel Valentine and Bryn Forbes were last season or Travis Trice was the previous year.

However, he has struggled. It seems to be a confidence issue as well as just flat-out not finding his shots. He has struggled to break free of defenders and gets swallowed up and disappears in stretches of games.

December was a forgetful month for him as he disappeared after the injury to Bridges. He averaged just 11.4 points per game, shooting 28 percent from long-range and 39 percent from the floor. He has been in Izzo’s doghouse in recent games — especially to start Big Ten play.

January will be the month in which he gets his confidence back and we will finally see the lights-out three-point shooter who we were expecting at the start of the year.

Harris will average 14 points and make 41 percent of his threes this month, getting himself back on track.

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