Michigan State Basketball: 3 bold predictions vs. Detroit Mercy in Game 4

Michigan State basketball will host Detroit Mercy on Friday night, hoping to avoid a Duke hangover. Will the Spartans dominate?

What a start to the year it’s been for Michigan State. Tom Izzo knew he had a talented team despite losing Cassius Winston and Xavier Tillman, but did he expect this?

The Spartans beat Eastern Michigan handily in the opener and then were about to run away against Notre Dame, but a late-game collapse led to a much slimmer win. The same went for a Duke win at Cameron Indoor. The final score was not quite indicative of how lopsided the game really felt.

Izzo is fresh off his first win at Cameron Indoor and he’s going to have to keep his team motivated to face an in-state foe that has yet to play a game this season.

Will the Spartans dominate again or will they suffer a post-Duke hangover?

3. Spartans hold Antoine Davis under 20

The son of Detroit Mercy head coach Mike Davis happens to be one of the most prolific scorers in college basketball. Little do people know, Antoine Davis can score at an impressive rate, already reaching 1,500 career points and he’s only a junior.

Davis averaged 26.1 points as a freshman and 24.3 as a sophomore and his shooting numbers could use some work, but he’s had little help around him.

When he wants to, Davis can drop 30-plus points with relative ease.

But he hasn’t quite seen a defense like Michigan State’s. The Spartans are playing at a high level defensively right now and they’re going to make life miserable for the junior guard from Alabama. He may cry foul for a lot of the game — along with his dad — but it’ll be clean defense from the Spartans that wins the day.

Aaron Henry, Josh Langford and Rocket Watts combine to hold Davis under 20 points.