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Michigan State Basketball: 3 bold predictions vs. Illinois in first game of 2020

By Connor Muldowney

EAST LANSING, MI - DECEMBER 21: Cassius Winston #5 of the Michigan State Spartans looks on in the second half against the Eastern Michigan Eagles at Breslin Center on December 21, 2019 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images)
EAST LANSING, MI - DECEMBER 21: Cassius Winston #5 of the Michigan State Spartans looks on in the second half against the Eastern Michigan Eagles at Breslin Center on December 21, 2019 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images) /
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Michigan State basketball kicks off a new year with Illinois coming to the Breslin Center. What could we expect from this Big Ten battle?

Big Ten play is back, folks. After playing two conference games in December, Big Ten teams finished up non-conference play and are now ready to knock each other around for the rest of the year.

Michigan State will kick off the new year with a battle against a 9-4 Illinois team that maybe doesn’t get enough love from the casual college basketball fan, but has a ton of talent. The Illini have Kofi Cockburn, a 7-footer from Jamaica, and Ayo Dosunmu who decided to come back for another season and can score from anywhere.

The Spartans will hope to get Cassius Winston back and keep Rocket Watts healthy enough to record a sixth straight win heading into Sunday’s showdown with Michigan.

We could see some fireworks on Thursday night, but will the Spartans come out on top?

3. MSU’s bigs hold Kofi Cockburn in check

Defense has been the name of the game for Michigan State lately and the Spartans are going to need it on Thursday night with freshman sensation Kofi Cockburn coming to the Breslin Center.

The big man from Illinois is averaging 16 points and 9.7 assists per game, making him one of the best freshmen in the conference as well as the nation. He’s a force at 7-foot, 290 pounds and he’ll be a load for Xavier Tillman, Thomas Kithier, Marcus Bingham Jr. and Julius Marble to handle, but they’ll get the job done.

Cockburn has scored under 10 points just twice this season but it will be No. 3 on Thursday night as you can imagine Tom Izzo has a game plan to slow him down.

Getting him into foul trouble early will help but so will the length of Tillman and Bingham Jr. in the post, altering his shots with help-side defense and Cassius Winston checking down for some soft double-teams.

Cockburn will have his toughest game since Maryland where he scored just nine points with eight rebounds as his stat line will look very similar on Thursday.

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