Michigan State Basketball: 3 bold predictions for bout with No. 5 Illinois

For the first time this season, Michigan State basketball will face a tough Illinois team with the hope of pulling off a big-time upset.

Michigan State has life again. Just days after losing a heartbreaker to Purdue, the Spartans went down the road and took down Indiana, ending a three-game losing streak to the Hoosiers.

With the win, Michigan State restored some NCAA Tournament hopes — although faint ones. Andy Katz even stated that if Michigan State can go 4-2 in the final six games, it could realistically be on the right side of the bubble. That’s a big if, though.

Illinois will kick off this gauntlet of a stretch on Tuesday night in East Lansing and this is an opportunity for Michigan State to add to that tourney resume and build on an Indiana win.

Will the Spartans keep the ball rolling against Illinois on Tuesday?

3. Joey Hauser shows signs of life

I’ve predicted this a few times before, but it’s only a matter of time before Joey Hauser snaps out of that ridiculous slump that he’s in and shoots the lights out.

I don’t think he’s going to have a huge game against Illinois, by any means, but he’ll score in double figures and he’ll even make over 50 percent of his shots. The junior forward is going to get some of his confidence back and he’ll even make a couple of big threes along the way.

Being one of the biggest critics of Hauser this season, I also believe that he has the potential to be a special player but his confidence is at an all-time low. His body language has been bad and when he makes a bad play, it usually turns into 2-3 in a row.

Tuesday night will stop the bleeding a little bit and put at least a short stopper on his slump.