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Michigan State Basketball: How do Spartans match up with Bucknell?

By Connor Muldowney

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 03: Miles Bridges #22 (L), Cassius Winston #5 and head coach Tom Izzo of the Michigan State Spartans have a conversation in the first half during semifinals of the Big 10 Basketball Tournament at Madison Square Garden on March 3, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 03: Miles Bridges #22 (L), Cassius Winston #5 and head coach Tom Izzo of the Michigan State Spartans have a conversation in the first half during semifinals of the Big 10 Basketball Tournament at Madison Square Garden on March 3, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images) /
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Michigan State basketball is entering one of the toughest regions in the 2018 NCAA Tournament, but how do the Spartans match up with Bucknell?

When the NCAA Tournament Selection Show revealed Michigan State (29-4) would be facing Bucknell (25-9) in the first round, not many fans batted an eye. Bucknell isn’t exactly a household name, but the Bison, the Patriot League champs, have pulled off March upsets before.

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In fact, back in 2005, the Bison were a 14-seed when they upset No. 3 Kansas before losing to Wisconsin in the second round. Could the Spartans fall victim to that same fate?

While Michigan State fans are weary of trusting a top-three seed nowadays after the Middle Tennessee upset in 2016, but is Bucknell as worrisome a matchup as the Blue Raiders were?

It’s tough to say since the Bison like to shoot threes as well, and it’s usually teams that catch fire from long-range in the tournament that pull off upsets. They take about 23 threes per game and make about 34 percent of them. That’s not a terribly impressive number, but Middle Tennessee made under 40 percent in 2016 and shot about 23 per game — look how that turned out.

After starting the season 7-8, Bucknell won 18-of-19 games to win the regular season and conference tournament titles. They did so with offense, averaging 81 points per game.

So what problems do the Bison pose to the Spartans?

I’m not sure it’s much of a problem, since it plays into Michigan State’s style, but the Bison like to get out and run. They average over 80 point thanks to an up-tempo style of play and that actually leads to a good amount of turnovers as they average 13.

Bucknell is a top-100 rebounding team, ranked No. 112 in assists, but its defense is close to 200th, allowing nearly 73 points per game. That could play into the Spartans’ favor.

One potential matchup problem could be at point guard. While Cassius Winston has improved tremendously throughout the year, he’s coming off another shaky performance against Michigan. Stephen Brown could cause problems at point as he’s an athletic guard who can get to the rim or pull up on a fast break and hit a three.

Next: MSU Basketball: 5 biggest concerns before NCAA tourney

Michigan State matches up well with the Bison, but the Spartans need to protect the perimeter and shut down Brown.

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