Michigan State Basketball: 3 bold predictions for home opener vs. WMU

Tom Izzo can’t be happy about how Michigan State basketball opened the season on Tuesday night in the Champions Classic, but there were actually plenty of positives to take from the Spartans’ loss to No. 3 Kansas.

Michigan State played the Jayhawks tight for about 30 minutes on Tuesday night before turnovers really did the Spartans in. Self-inflicted wounds led to the 13-point Kansas runaway win.

The Spartans get a chance to redeem themselves on Friday night in their home opener against Western Michigan and there’s a decent chance this team bounces back in a big way.

Michigan State beat Western Michigan 79-61 a year ago, but will the Spartans have the same fortune this time around?

3. Gabe Brown has multiple highlight-reel dunks

It seems like Gabe Brown is good for at least one highlight-reel dunk every year in non-conference play. The senior forward is going to have two on Friday night alone.

I’m not sure if it’s the home atmosphere or the confidence he has against lesser opponents, but Gabe seems to always get the crowd on their feet with a monster driving dunk. His baseline drives have been legendary because they usually end in acrobatic, head-at-the-rim slams.

I’m thinking we’ll see something like this:

This isn’t the wildest bold prediction, but I think Gabe has a couple of huge dunks that get the crowd going and the momentum swinging in Michigan State’s direction early.