Michigan State Basketball: 3 bold predictions for road battle vs. Maryland

EAST LANSING, MI - FEBRUARY 15: Aaron Henry #11 of the Michigan State Spartans handles the ball while defended by Darryl Morsell #11 of the Maryland Terrapins at the Breslin Center on February 15, 2020 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images) /

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EAST LANSING, MI – FEBRUARY 25: Thomas Kithier #15 of the Michigan State Spartans and Joe Wieskamp #10 of the Iowa Hawkeyes battle for position to grab the rebound in the second half of the game at the Breslin Center on February 25, 2020 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images) /

2. Michigan State wins the rebounding battle

The first time these two teams met, the Terrapins out-rebounded the Spartans. For some reason, that’s been fairly commonplace this season and it’s something that drives Tom Izzo crazy.

Izzo has preached toughness on the glass for years and his teams are always usually at the top of the Big Ten in terms of total rebounds and rebound margin. While the Spartans are still No. 1 in the conference this season in rebounds per game, one area that has killed them is on the offensive glass. They allow a ton of offensive boards while also ranking eighth in the Big Ten in that same category.

That needs to change.

On Saturday, the Spartans will toughen up on the glass and put together an impressive effort on both ends of the floor in terms of rebounding, out-battling the conference’s fifth-best team in that category by at least seven boards.

This may not seem like that bold of a prediction, but you have to remember the Terrapins out-dueled the Spartans on the glass in the first battle and have home-court advantage here.

On top of that, Michigan State will limit Maryland’s offensive rebounds to under eight.

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