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Michigan State Basketball: Staff score predictions vs. Nebraska in Week 4

By Connor Muldowney

EAST LANSING, MI - NOVEMBER 30: Miles Bridges #22 of the Michigan State Spartans celebrates during the game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Breslin Center on November 30, 2017 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images)
EAST LANSING, MI - NOVEMBER 30: Miles Bridges #22 of the Michigan State Spartans celebrates during the game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Breslin Center on November 30, 2017 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images) /
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Michigan State basketball will host Nebraska to open Big Ten play on Sunday, and here’s what our staff has to say about the contest.

The 2017-18 season is progressing quickly and Michigan State will play its first conference game of the year. Wait, it’s just December, right? Indeed, Michigan State, and the rest of the Big Ten, will start conference play early as the tournament will be in February — a week earlier.

Must Read: Despite blowout of Notre Dame, Spartans have room to grow

Michigan State will host Nebraska (6-2) on Sunday evening and it’ll be a nice test to see just how the Spartans can focus in conference action. It will also be a stepping stone into a second conference game on Tuesday night at Rutgers.

Our staff weighs in on the final score of Sunday’s home game against the Cornhuskers.

Connor Muldowney: Michigan State is going to lock down Nebraska in all phases, but foul trouble will creep up and bite the Spartans. The dozens of free throws will keep the Cornhuskers closer than they should be, but Cassius Winston and Josh Langford will have more strong showings. On top of that, the Spartans will get a good game out of a finally healthy Miles Bridges and the post play will be a difference-maker.

Final Score: Nebraska 62, Michigan State 83

Michael Briggs: Michigan State is already in the midst of one of — if not the best — one week stretches ever under Tom Izzo with consecutive 18-point wins over top-10 opponents. Now, the Spartans will welcome Nebraska to the Breslin Center for their first conference game to cap it off. If you just emerged from a coma, yes you read that correctly. Michigan State is playing its first conference game of the season just three days into December against Nebraska, which is now a Big Ten team. Weird, I know.

The conference’s compacted schedule will not trip up MSU in this game, however. The 6-2 Cornhuskers are coming off of a victory over Boston College, but do not pose as a serious threat to a focused Michigan State team at home. With so many new players — the Huskers added three transfers and three freshman this off-season — NU is not in any kind of shape capable of taking down this Spartans team. On to the next one.

Final Score: Nebraska 57, Michigan State 83

Next: MSU Basketball: 5 takeaways from win over Notre Dame

Adam Zdroik: How bad is the Big Ten? Pretty bad. If Michigan State loses more than two games in conference play, it will be a disappointment. The Cornhuskers are the same team we’ve seen in recent seasons. In their lone true road game, they lost by 23 to St. John’s and Marvin Clark. They rate as a decent rebounding team, but I’m not sure that will do much in this one. Nebraska doesn’t have a great offense and that’s going to be a problem against this defense. The Spartans continue to roll with Cassius Winston taking the lead in this game against the 6-foot Glynn Watson.

Final Score: Nebraska 58, Michigan State 79

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