Michigan State Basketball: 5 bold predictions for Elite 8 battle with Duke

Michigan State Basketball: 5 bold predictions for Elite Eight battle with Duke

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 29: Gabe Brown #13 of the Michigan State Spartans celebrates a three point basket against the LSU Tigers during the first half in the East Regional game of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Capital One Arena on March 29, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /

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WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 29: Matt McQuaid #20 of the Michigan State Spartans drives to the basket against Tremont Waters #3 of the LSU Tigers during the first half in the East Regional game of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Capital One Arena on March 29, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /

2. Matt McQuaid, Kenny Goins each score in double figures

Three games into the 2019 NCAA Tournament and Michigan State hasn’t seen much from its seniors on the offensive end of the court.

This is surprising seeing as Kenny Goins and Matt McQuaid helped engineer Big Ten regular season and tournament titles at the end of the season because they got hot offensively. Unfortunately, McQuaid is shooting just 33 percent from 3-point range and Goins is slightly below 25 percent in the tourney. That’s not going to cut it against Duke.

But this is where seniors show up to play.

Against a young, inexperienced Duke team, Goins and McQuaid will have much better games, each scoring in double figures and combining for six made threes. They won’t go off, by any means, but they’ll get back on track and do their best to ensure Michigan State has a fighting chance to make it to the Final Four.

Goins finishes with 12 points and 10 rebounds while McQuaid hits some clutch shots down the stretch to finish with 14 points and four assists while playing solid defense on RJ Barrett.

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