Michigan State Basketball: 5 keys to victory over LSU in Sweet 16

DES MOINES, IOWA - MARCH 21: Aaron Henry #11, Matt McQuaid #20, Cassius Winston #5, Xavier Tillman #23, and Kenny Goins #25 of the Michigan State Spartans stand on the court during their game in the First Round of the NCAA Basketball Tournament against the Bradley Braves at Wells Fargo Arena on March 21, 2019 in Des Moines, Iowa. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /

2 of 5

DES MOINES, IOWA – MARCH 21: Elijah Childs #10 of the Bradley Braves defends a shot by Nick Ward #44 of the Michigan State Spartans during their game in the First Round of the NCAA Basketball Tournament at Wells Fargo Arena on March 21, 2019 in Des Moines, Iowa. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /

4. Win the rebound battle, limit offensive boards

Michigan State hasn’t played a team that can rebound as well as LSU in a while and the Tigers are going to give the Spartans all they can handle.

In fact, LSU averages about 39 rebounds per game while the Spartans grab 41 which means this will make for one of the more physical games of the tournament. The battle of the board will be important and whoever wins will have a major upper-hand.

Kenny Goins, Xavier Tillman and Nick Ward will need to dominate the glass with guys like Matt McQuaid and Aaron Henry crashing the boards as well. It needs to be a collective team effort for the Spartans to win the battle on the glass with all the athletes that LSU has.

The Tigers aren’t just going to roll over and let the Spartans grab 40-45 boards like they’ve been known to do against less aggressive teams, but Michigan State needs to limit LSU’s offensive boards as well. Less offensive rebounds surrendered means less second-chance points.

Home/Spartans Basketball