Michigan State Basketball: Position-by-position breakdown vs. Michigan

Bench

Foster Loyer, Kyle Ahrens, Thomas Kithier

These three are going to see some playing time to give breathers and they need to contribute while out on the court. Kyle Ahrens is the sixth man for this Spartans team and he can even start if he has a good week of practice. He is able to knock down threes and he also looks for he back door cuts in order to get those easy buckets.

Thomas Kithier will see some playing time because of Nick Ward’s injury. He will need to play some solid defense which is a tough task for a freshmen who does not have much playing time experience underneath him.

Foster Loyer will also give Winston a break or come in for him if he’s in foul trouble. Loyer can make shots but he is not confident with himself yet. He makes freshmen mistakes but he is learning from those mistakes. MSU has the depth this year and will use it to stay energized throughout this game.

Isaiah Livers, Eli Brooks, Colin Castleton

Isaiah Livers is the man to come off the bench for the Wolverines. He started last year but John Beilein talked to him and he said whatever is best for the team so he chose to be the sixth man this year. He’s a good role player and will come in and start to contribute. The other two will come in as subs in order to give the starters some rest but will look to not make mistakes just like Loyer or Kithier will look to do for the Spartans.

Slight Advantage: MSU

With looking at these position-by-position breakdowns this could be anyone’s game. The biggest things to look for while watching will be the matchup between Cassius Winston and Zavier Simpson.

Can Winston overcome the tough defense that Simpson provides or will the latter have Cassius’ number again this year?

The other thing to look for is the turnovers by Michigan State. The Spartans have been plagued with bad turnovers for the past couple of seasons and have continued that trend this year. They are averaging 13.3 turnovers this year to Michigan’s nine. They cannot afford to just give the Wolverines more looks if they want to take the lead in the Big Ten title race.

This will be a close one. Each team will go on its runs and it will be a back-and-forth game. However, Michigan will get the win having home-court advantage and less turnovers. It’ll come down to the last minute.

Prediction: Michigan State 64, Michigan 67