Michigan State basketball: 3 bold predictions for B1G opener at Minnesota
By Nate Rhoades
Michigan State basketball opens Big Ten play with its second true road game against Minnesota. Here are three bold predictions for the game.
Michigan State basketball is taking on the Gophers of Minnesota to open its conference schedule. This will be a good matchup and will tell a lot about this team. The Spartans will have their hands full as the Gophers are undefeated and looking to keep that streak alive.
The Spartans have been playing good basketball, getting good contributions from a plethora of different players each game. They will be led by leaders Gabe Brown and Marcus Bingham Jr. in the Big Ten opener.
Let’s dive into some bold predictions for the matchup.
3. Max Christie will have his best shooting game
Max Christie is on the verge of having a breakout game and this will be that game. He has not been shy about looking for his shot and is not scared to take the shots. Even though he has not been shy, he has yet to have an excellent shooting outing.
Christie is coming off a week in which he was given a Co-Big Ten Freshmen of the Week award. He averaged 12.5 points, 2.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists. He was a crucial part of their two victories last week. In Christie’s last game against Toledo, he shot 4-for-14 and finished with 14 points.
It should not take Christie 14 shots to score 14 points.
The freshman will not need that many shots in this game to get to 14 points. Against Minnesota, Christie will score a career-high of 22 points. He will shoot 8-for-9 from the floor with making 3-of-4 long-range and 3-for-3 from the free-throw line.
He will also wreak havoc on the defensive end. Christie will do a number on the Payton Willis, making it hard for him to get any clean look at the basket all night long. It will be because of this strong performance the Spartans will come out of this one on top.