Spartan Avenue
Fansided

Predicting how far Michigan State basketball can go in 2018 NCAA Tournament

By Adam Zdroik

EAST LANSING, MI - FEBRUARY 20: Michigan State Spartans celebrate with the Big Ten trophy after the Spartan defeated the Illinois Fighting Illini at Breslin Center on February 20, 2018 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images)
EAST LANSING, MI - FEBRUARY 20: Michigan State Spartans celebrate with the Big Ten trophy after the Spartan defeated the Illinois Fighting Illini at Breslin Center on February 20, 2018 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images) /
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CHICAGO, IL – NOVEMBER 14: Wendell Carter Jr #34 of the Duke Blue Devils is fouled by Jaren Jackson Jr. #2 of the Michigan State Spartans during the State Farm Champions Classic at the United Center on November 14, 2017 in Chicago, Illinois. Duke defeated Michigan State 88-81. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
CHICAGO, IL – NOVEMBER 14: Wendell Carter Jr #34 of the Duke Blue Devils is fouled by Jaren Jackson Jr. #2 of the Michigan State Spartans during the State Farm Champions Classic at the United Center on November 14, 2017 in Chicago, Illinois. Duke defeated Michigan State 88-81. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /

Sweet 16

I wouldn’t put it past Duke to lose in the second round to Rhode Island. The Rams slipped late in the season, but still have the talent to beat the Blue Devils. Still, they’re too small to deal with Marvin Bagley and Wendell Carter down low.

If Michigan State gets Duke, everyone knows Tom Izzo’s 1-11 record against Coach K. There’s no way around it. The Blue Devils won that matchup earlier in the season and Bagley only played 10 minutes. In case you didn’t know, Bagley is one of the best players in college and yet they still beat MSU without him for the majority of the game.

To beat Duke, everyone has to show up. That means Josh Langford and the good Cassius Winston. Those two combined for 12 points in that first loss and most notably Winston only had three points going 1-of-5 from the field. Winston had 11 assists, but he can’t be passive if the Spartans are to win a game like this. Jackson and Ward have to hold their own in the paint with help from Gavin Schilling and Xavier Tillman.

The reason to believe in the Spartans is that Winston is a different player than earlier in the season. Schilling and Tillman only played eight minutes in that game, but both will likely have key backup roles against the Duke bigs. Also, Grayson Allen had one of the best games of his career dropping 37 points and that probably won’t happen again.

The reason Duke will win yet again is because Bagley had five offensive rebounds in the 10 minutes he played. Even if Allen doesn’t go off, Bagley will pick up the slack and keep Jackson in foul trouble.

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