Will Michigan State basketball pick up more signature wins to finish season?

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EAST LANSING, MI – FEBRUARY 15: Cassius Winston #5 of the Michigan State Spartans drives to the basket against Anthony Cowan Jr. #1 of the Maryland Terrapins in the first half of the game at the Breslin Center on February 15, 2020 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images) /

MSU at No. 7 Maryland (Feb. 29 at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN)

Michigan State will then travel to Maryland to take on the Terrapins once again. They lost in their first meeting because of a 14-0 run by Maryland led by Anthony Cowan Jr. who led the way with 24 points in the first meeting and will look to do so again.

The key for Michigan State in this game is to shut down Cowan Jr. In the first half of the game, Cowan had somewhere around 13 points.

For most of the second half Cowan was shut down. In fact, he had just three points until Watts made a defensive error and left his man for an unnecessary help side defense. This created enough space for the driver to kick the ball out to Cowan and Watts could not recover quick enough ending with a 3-pointer. On the next possession for Maryland, the same thing happened.

If Michigan State wants to win this game they will need to be attached to Cowan Jr.’s hip. Whoever is guarding him cannot let him out of their sight. They need to shut him down.

They also need to do a better job at rebounding the ball and getting out into transition once they get the ball. If the Spartans can shut Cowan down they have a great shot to get the win against this team. Look at how they performed in the second half of their first meeting. They shut him down and were able to crawl back into the game.

If the Spartans can play a complete game and shut down Cowan from the start then they should have no problem leaving Maryland with a win.

Prediction: MSU 65, Maryland 63

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