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Michigan State Basketball: 5 bold predictions for January 2021

By Connor Muldowney

EAST LANSING, MI - DECEMBER 06: Marcus Bingham Jr. #30, Gabe Brown #44, A.J. Hoggard #11 and Rocket Watts #2 of the Michigan State Spartans celebrate a play in the second half of the game against the Western Michigan Broncos at Breslin Center on December 6, 2020 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images)
EAST LANSING, MI - DECEMBER 06: Marcus Bingham Jr. #30, Gabe Brown #44, A.J. Hoggard #11 and Rocket Watts #2 of the Michigan State Spartans celebrate a play in the second half of the game against the Western Michigan Broncos at Breslin Center on December 6, 2020 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images) /
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January has already gotten off to a quick start with a Michigan State basketball win, but what does the rest of the month hold?

The month of January could be the start of a turnaround for a Michigan State basketball team that’s looking for answers.

After a 6-0 start to the season that found this team sitting in the top five nationally, the Spartans lost three straight games to begin Big Ten play and have dropped in the AP Top 25 drastically. They finally secured their first conference win of the season against a bad Nebraska team, but defense remains an issue.

Although January has already technically begun for this team with a 1-0 record, let’s get bold for the remainder of the month.

5. Mady Sissoko cracks the starting five

We have barely seen Mady Sissoko this season. That’s not a major shock given the fact that he’s a very raw big man with an offensive game that needs to develop still, but in his eight games, he has shown the ability to be a rim protector.

With Michigan State facing big men such as Luka Garza, Trayce Jackson-Davis and Kofi Cockburn, someone’s going to need to step up in the post defensively.

Joey Hauser has been a liability down there, Thomas Kithier isn’t exactly a shut-down defender, Marcus Bingham Jr. is an enigma and Julius Marble has looked good in limited time. Sissoko provides the highest ceiling for this team in the post on the defensive end.

In fact, he’s averaging 0.5 blocks and 2.1 rebounds in just 5.5 minutes.

Sissoko is going to crack the starting lineup by the middle of the month, taking over the center position.

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