Spartan Avenue
Fansided

Michigan State Basketball: Staff score predictions vs. Long Beach State

By Connor Muldowney

EAST LANSING, MI - DECEMBER 18: Lourawls Nairn Jr. #11 of the Michigan State Spartans reacts to a play in the game against the Houston Baptist Huskies at the Jack T. Breslin Student Events Center on December 18, 2017 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
EAST LANSING, MI - DECEMBER 18: Lourawls Nairn Jr. #11 of the Michigan State Spartans reacts to a play in the game against the Houston Baptist Huskies at the Jack T. Breslin Student Events Center on December 18, 2017 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Michigan State basketball will take on Long Beach State on Thursday evening and here are staff score predictions for the non-conference bout.

Long Beach State (5-8) doesn’t exactly provide the biggest challenge for Michigan State, but these are the game the Spartans must win convincingly. Even Tom Izzo wasn’t happy with a 45-point win over Houston Baptist on Monday evening.

Must Read: MSU Basketball: Report card for victory over Houston Baptist

Michigan State must figure out a way to keep the 49ers off the glass as it allowed 24 offensive boards to Houston Baptist. On top of that, defending the 3-point line will be a top priority as the 49ers shoot about 39 percent from deep.

The Spartan Avenue staff offers its score predictions for Thursday night’s non-conference bout against Long Beach State.

Connor Muldowney: Miles Bridges is coming off his best game of the season, tying a career-high of 33 points, and he’s going to put up another 25-plus point game. He’s going to remain hot early on and carry the Spartans to victory. Jaren Jackson Jr. will get back into double-digits in the score column, Nick Ward will have another double-double and Josh Langford also scores 20 with Cassius Winston dishing another 10 assists. Oh, and the Spartans grossly out-rebound Long Beach State.

Final Score: Long Beach State 54, Michigan State 85

Stephen Robb: Long Beach State heads into East Lansing and while the 49ers are 5-8 they have played well at times. They have two 3-point sharp shooters in Bryan Alberts and Jordan Griffin. If the Spartans get off to a sluggish start then the 49ers could jump out to a lead by halftime. This MSU squad is super talented and with Miles Bridges back so I cannot imagine them losing.

Final Score: Long Beach State 71, Michigan State 88

Adam Zdroik: The 49ers already beat two Pac-12 teams, but they also lost to Eastern Michigan and Southern Utah, who MSU beat. LBSU ranks as one of the worst defenses in the country (309th in effective FG percentage) and doesn’t shoot particularly well (48.1 2-point percentage). Against another small team look for Nick Ward and Jaren Jackson to control the paint and for Miles Bridges to fill it up.

Final Score: Long Beach State 60, Michigan State 91

Next: MSU Basketball: Game-by-game predictions for December

Michael Briggs: Michigan State beat Houston Baptist by 45 points Monday, but the performance still wasn’t up to MSU’s standards. The Spartans got off to a lackluster start with four early turnovers and surrendered 24 offensive rebounds to the undersized Huskies — stats that didn’t go unnoticed by Izzo. Beating clearly inferior teams on pure talent alone doesn’t help Michigan State develop into a better team. Hopefully the Spartans put together a more well-rounded performance against Long Beach State.

Final Score: Long Beach State 67, Michigan State 92

Home/Spartans Basketball