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Michigan State Basketball: Preview, prediction vs. Cleveland State

By Connor Muldowney

EAST LANSING, MI - DECEMBER 21: Miles Bridges #22 of the Michigan State Spartans dunks the ball during the game against the Long Beach State 49ers at Breslin Center on December 21, 2017 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images)
EAST LANSING, MI - DECEMBER 21: Miles Bridges #22 of the Michigan State Spartans dunks the ball during the game against the Long Beach State 49ers at Breslin Center on December 21, 2017 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images) /
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Michigan State basketball hosts Cleveland State in the second-to-last non-conference battle on the year on Friday night.

The battle of Bryn Forbes’ former team will take place on Friday night in East Lansing. You can bet Cleveland State (3-9) hasn’t forgotten about the transfer of the star sharpshooter, but Michigan State (12-1) squeezed every last drop of production out of him before preparing him for the NBA.

Must Read: MSU Basketball: 5 takeaways from Long Beach State blowout

Michigan State is just two games away from concluding its non-conference schedule and that means looking ahead to the Big Ten title race. While these final two games are still important as letdowns are possible, the conference slate has to be on the minds of everyone.

Tom Izzo will have this team prepared regardless and Friday night’s game against the Vikings will be a nice test heading into the holiday weekend. Can the Spartans improve to 13-1 on the season and record their 12th straight win? The Vikings aren’t a high-scoring, or prolific-shooting, team so Michigan State shouldn’t have a difficult time.

Here’s how you can watch Friday night’s Michigan State vs. Cleveland State game:

Date: Friday, Dec. 29
Time: 6:00 p.m. ET
Location: East Lansing, Mich.
Venue: Breslin Center
TV: Big Ten Network
Live Stream: BTN2Go

Keys to Victory

As long as the Spartans are aggressive on the offensive end, there’s no reason this team can’t win by 30-plus points. Feeding the post will be a major key as the Vikings of Cleveland State don’t have anyone who can slow down Jaren Jackson Jr. or Nick Ward. The mismatches on the offensive end will also extend to the defense.

Cleveland State doesn’t make many 3-pointers so the Spartans have to dare the Vikings to shoot from outside. Defending inside the arc is important and Michigan State just needs to continue what it’s been doing in that regard. Forcing the Vikings outside will cause major problems for them offensively and they won’t be able to beat the Spartans from long-range.

Cleveland State players to watch

The Vikings haven’t had the strongest season thus far, going just 3-9 through 12 games and averaging under 70 points per contest. That means there aren’t many scoring options for this team, but here are just a few players to keep an eye on.

  • Kenny Carpenter — 13.7 points, 6.0 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 49% FG shooting
  • Tyree Appleby — 11.2 points, 3.1 assists, 1.7 steals, 51% FG shooting
  • Anthony Wright — 8.1 points, 6.3 rebounds, 55% FG shooting

Cleveland State also shoots just 32 percent from 3-point range and 45 percent from the floor. They also average just 31 rebounds per contest. This is an extreme mismatch.

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

Prediction

Cleveland State’s three wins this season have been against Coppin State, Arkansas State and Notre Dame College which have a combined five wins against Division 1 teams. The rebounding discrepancy will be major and the Vikings won’t be able to hit anything consistently. Miles Bridges, Josh Langford and Cassius Winston will all have double-digit scoring performances while both Jaren Jackson Jr. and Nick Ward could approach double-double territory. The bench will get some major playing time in this one.

Final Score: Cleveland State 58, Michigan State 95

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