Michigan State Basketball: 5 bold predictions vs. Notre Dame

4. Jaren Jackson Jr. will set new career-high in blocks

In the preseason, Jaren Jackson Jr. showed off his shot-blocking abilities early on, recording six against Ferris State in his first-ever college basketball action. So far this season, he has 11 blocks in four games and hasn’t been a huge swat machine in recent games, but that will change against Notre Dame.

On the few occasions that the Irish do take the ball to the rack, Jackson Jr. will be there waiting. Don’t get me wrong, Notre Dame isn’t strictly a 3-point shooting team, but it’s teams that don’t rely on the deep shot that usually beat the Spartans from long-range.

Bonzie Colson will get a couple of his shots blocked by Jackson Jr., Martinas Geben will also be a victim of the Spartans’ big man’s post dominance and the guards will drive to the hoop and realize halfway that they made a mistake, but go through with it anyways. He will finish with five blocks to go along with another double-double (10 points, 11 rebounds).

Although he had six in the preseason game, that doesn’t count as a career-high. Jackson Jr. recorded four against North Florida and will surpass that on Thursday.