Michigan State basketball aiming to get back on track at Nebraska

Michigan State basketball heads to Nebraska on an ice-cold streak and the Spartans are looking to get back on track vs. the Cornhuskers.

Michigan State is looking to get back on track with a road win against the Nebraska Cornhuskers. The Spartans have lost our of their last five games and they have struggled all year on the road and will look to pick up a solid win on Thursday night.

Cassius Winston will look to take over early and control the tempo of the game, Xavier Tillman will look to become a dominant post player tonight and control the paint and this is a great game for a third scoring option to evolve before the tough stretch to end the season.

Cassius will need to manage his team and get his players going early. He will be the Cassius of old on Thursday night as he finds his players often and early to get them open and easy looks to take a commanding lead early in the first half. He will also find ways to get to the rack and get those easy layups before he starts firing from long range. Cassius will end with 25 points and eight assists.

Xavier will look to get into his post presence early as well. Once he gets the ball he will beat the double team to the basket and be able to establish his presence down low. This will, in effect, open up the perimeter for the other wing players to be able to shoot the deep ball or drive and kick out.

Who will emerge as the third option in this Spartan offense? Will it be Aaron Henry who has had an up-and-down season? What about Gabe Brown or Rocket Watts? Who will finally establish that they can be a consistent piece for the Spartans?

Henry will continue to struggle to find his offensive rhythm and Brown will have a solid game but it will not be good enough to establish himself as a third option.

Watts, however, will struggle the first five minutes of the game because of being on the road. Once his nerves subside, he will find his rhythm and find his stroke and will truly emerge as a third option for this team who desperately needs someone to take on that role for this post season.

Cam Mack, Haanif Cheatham and the rest of the Cornhuskers will look to steal a win from the Spartans. Mack and Cheatham have been Nebraska’s best players all year and will look to continue that stride in this game.

Mack, who is averaging 12.4 points, 4.6 rebounds and 6.6 assists per game, knows the game and how to get his fellow teammates involved. He’s one of the reasons the Cornhuskers almost stole a win from Maryland on the road and not because he had an incredible scoring night, but because he was spacing the floor and getting the ball to his teammates so they could get involved. This is exactly what Mack will have to do against Winston and the Spartans if he hopes to get a win at home tonight.

Cheatham is the other player the Cornhuskers have relied on heavily this season. He is their best scoring option and will try to get in rhythm against the revolving door of players that Michigan State uses as big men. He also averages 12.4 points a game but is shooting the ball at almost 50 percent. If he can somehow take over the paint, then this game will be a much closer game than what the Spartans are looking for.

The Spartans will end up with a victory on Thursday night but it will be closer than what they wanted. They will get out to an early 17-point lead through the first 30 minutes of the game but will end up losing there stride late. They will give up their 17-point lead to fall behind by two before Watts hits a crucial 3-pointer in the closing minute. The Cornhuskers will take a bad shot and miss and have to end the game fouling where the Spartans will win by five at the free throw line.

Prediction: Michigan State 75, Nebraska 70