Michigan State Basketball: 5 bold predictions vs. Notre Dame

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PORTLAND, OR – NOVEMBER 26: North Carolina Tar Heels forward Luke Maye #32, Michigan State Spartans forward Nick Ward #44, North Carolina Tar Heels forward Garrison Brooks #15 and Michigan State Spartans forward Jaren Jackson Jr. #2 battle for position in the first half of the game during the PK80-Phil Knight Invitational presented by State Farm at the Moda Center on November 26, 2017 in Portland, Oregon. (Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images) /

2. Michigan State will out-rebound Notre Dame by 15

Since the ugly rebounding effort against Duke, Michigan State has been on a mission to clean things up. The Spartans have looked like a completely different team on the glass since allowing those 25 offensive rebounds to the Blue Devils and it’s probably because Tom Izzo has preached rebounding in practice.

In fact, the Spartans out-rebounded Stony Brook 41-25, bested DePaul 39-24, snuck past UConn 38-32 and embarrassed North Carolina 52-36. That’s three games with at least 15 rebounds more than the opponent in four tries — not too shabby.

Michigan State will do the same against a Notre Dame team not exactly known for its size. The Irish are on the smaller side and that will work to Michigan State’s advantage as the Spartans will clean up the offensive glass as well as the defensive side of things.

Notre Dame averages just 37 rebounds per game to the Spartans’ 42, and the Irish haven’t faced a team like Michigan State yet. I’ll say Michigan State gets 46 rebounds to Notre Dame’s 30.

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