Spartan Avenue
Fansided

Michigan State Basketball: Game-by-game predictions for February 2019

By Connor Muldowney

EAST LANSING, MI - JANUARY 02: Nick Ward #44 of the Michigan State Spartans handles the ball while defended by Barret Benson #25 of the Northwestern Wildcats in the first half at Breslin Center on January 2, 2019 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images)
EAST LANSING, MI - JANUARY 02: Nick Ward #44 of the Michigan State Spartans handles the ball while defended by Barret Benson #25 of the Northwestern Wildcats in the first half at Breslin Center on January 2, 2019 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 7
Next

Michigan State basketball is expecting a big month of February but how will the Spartans fare, by game? This is a critical span of games for Big Ten title hopes.

If you were asked before last season which team would be more cohesive and would look more like a No. 1 seed by the time the NCAA Tournament rolled around, you probably would have guessed the 2017-18 version of the Spartans was the safe choice.

Three months into the 2018-19 season, it’s starting to look like Michigan State’s latest team could be its best in quite some time, topping the uber-talented squad from 2017-18 which featured Miles Bridges and Jaren Jackson Jr.

Michigan State is 18-3 and fresh off its first loss of the Big Ten season at Purdue, but the Spartans finished their toughest stretch of the season and head into a critical month of February with high hopes. A strong month could put this team in the driver’s seat for the Big Ten title, but it may come down to an in-state battle for the regular season crown.

Can the Spartans go undefeated in February?

Indiana limps into East Lansing for a College GameDay bout. Why the ESPN crew chose Michigan State vs. Indiana for their Week 13 destination is beyond me, but they wanted a chance to catch the Spartans live since they’ve been playing as well as anyone in college basketball this season.

The Hoosiers, on the other hand, are losers of seven straight games and that’ll turn into eight after the Spartans are done with them.

Archie Miller may have the program back on track next season, but his team just hasn’t figured things out in conference play this year with a 3-7 mark which will become 3-8 as Romeo Langford struggles and Nick Ward dominates the post.

The Spartans will battle back and forth with Indiana through the first half, but the second half will be all green and white. This should be a comfortable win for the good guys.

Prediction: Indiana 61, Michigan State 78 (19-3, 10-1)

Home/Spartans Basketball