Michigan State Basketball: 3 bold predictions vs. Duke in Game 3

Tuesday is a big day for Michigan State basketball as the Spartans travel to Durham to take on Duke in the Champions Classic. Who wins?

Duke and Michigan State are meeting up on Tuesday night in the annual Champions Classic but this one will be different. There will be no fans and the Spartans and Blue Devils aren’t playing on a neutral court this year. This year, because of the pandemic, both teams agreed to play at Cameron Indoor.

It’s normally a daunting task to play on the road against Duke, but when you take out the Cameron Crazies, it’s much more manageable. Plus, the Blue Devils are featuring a young team this year.

Michigan State, specifically Tom Izzo, struggles against Duke so this isn’t going to be an easy matchup regardless. The Spartans lost last year’s matchup in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge which was a rematch of the previous year’s Elite Eight game.

Will the Spartans get revenge on Tuesday night?

3. Marcus Bingham Jr. blocks five shots

Marcus Bingham Jr. is getting stronger with each passing game. In the opener against Eastern, we saw some flashes of what he could do. His new body was put to the test and it passed.

Against Notre Dame, he continued his solid play and wowed people with his shot-blocking prowess, swatting four shots in the win to give him six on the season.

On Tuesday night, he’ll almost match his season total. He’s going to rise to the occasion against Duke, blocking five shots because, well, the Spartans will need him to. The Blue Devils will try to drive the lane but his help-side defense is going to win the day.

Bingham Jr. adds five blocks to his total and suddenly the school’s all-time blocks record is looking attainable.