Michigan State basketball: Final score predictions for opener vs. EMU

Eastern Michigan comes to town for Michigan State basketball’s season opener on Wednesday night and our staff has high hopes.

Brace yourselves, Michigan State fans, the 2020-21 season could be a special one.

While Cassius Winston and Xavier Tillman are gone, the Spartans are looking like one of the top contenders for the Big Ten title. In fact, they could win their fourth straight conference crown, but they’ll have to fight off Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin which are all ranked in the top 10 nationally.

Before we can even think about conference play, we’re going to take a look at what our staff believes will take place in the season opener against Eastern Michigan.

Will we see another 101-48 blowout like last year?

Connor Muldowney: I see Michigan State starting this one slow and maybe even taking a single-digit lead into halftime. The second half will be much more dominant as the Spartans pick up some momentum and treat Eastern Michigan like a punching bag. This one won’t be all that close. Side not: say hello to budding superstar Rocket Watts.

Final Score: Eastern Michigan 56, Michigan State 84

Jack Williams: MSU will look rusty in the first half but will eventually pull away from EMU. Foster Loyer will surprise fans by leading Michigan State in scoring for the first time since last December against Western Michigan and the Spartans will take care of business in game one.

Final Score: Eastern Michigan 54, Michigan State 78

Carter Landis: The biggest thing to watch for me is gonna be how Rocket Watts transitions to full time point guard. He had the safety net of playing combo guard with Cassius last year, but now the ball is in his hands full time. MSU can experiment a bit, because EMU isn’t much of a threat.

Final Score: Eastern Michigan 51, Michigan State 88