Michigan State Basketball: 5 bold predictions for critical Illinois battle

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WEST LAFAYETTE, IN – JANUARY 27: Xavier Tillman #23 of the Michigan State Spartans and Grady Eifert #24 of the Purdue Boilermakers battle for the loose ball at Mackey Arena on January 27, 2019 in West Lafayette, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /

3. MSU out-hustles, out-rebounds Illinois by 15

Illinois does not rebound the ball particularly well. The Illini are a guard-heavy team and their leading rebounder, Aaron Jordan, averages just 4.9 per game. They don’t exactly have the size to bang with the Spartans down low and that’s going to play right into Michigan State’s favor.

Nick Ward, Xavier Tillman and Kenny Goins are going to eat the boards all night long as each may just finish in double figures. Illinois prides itself on playing a fast-paced game and the emphasis isn’t exactly on crashing the glass, so expect Michigan State to hold the advantage there.

Plus, after a weak performance against Indiana, you can bet Tom Izzo brought out the football pads at practice and had his guys get after it. They were out-rebounded by eight against a small Hoosiers team at home and that’s not something you normally see from the Spartans.

We are going to see plenty of toughness from this team on Tuesday night as the Spartans make Illinois work for every rebound.

Michigan State wins the battle on the glass by at least 15, scoring plenty of second-chance buckets with the dozen-plus offensive rebounds.

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