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3 reasons Michigan State basketball will bounce back to beat Michigan

By Connor Muldowney

From left, Michigan State's Julius Marble II, Gabe Brown, Tyson Walker, Max Christie and Malik Hall look on during a break in the action against Northwestern in the second half on Saturday, Jan. 15, 2022, at the Breslin Center in East Lansing.220115 Msu Northwestern 131a
From left, Michigan State's Julius Marble II, Gabe Brown, Tyson Walker, Max Christie and Malik Hall look on during a break in the action against Northwestern in the second half on Saturday, Jan. 15, 2022, at the Breslin Center in East Lansing.220115 Msu Northwestern 131a /
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Michigan State basketball is looking to bounce back from a rough loss to Illinois on Tuesday against rival Michigan. Here’s why the Spartans will win.

It’s officially rivalry weekend and Michigan will be in East Lansing to face Michigan State basketball in one of the most interesting matchups of the season.

The Spartans have been up-and-down over the past three games. They’ve lost two of three with a huge win at No. 8 Wisconsin and losses to Northwestern and at No. 24 Illinois. Tom Izzo will have them ready for this monster matchup in East Lansing against a suddenly-hot Michigan team.

Michigan has actually won three in a row, beating Maryland, Indiana, and Northwestern, gaining some confidence since a short COVID pause. It won’t be easy for the Spartans to take down the Wolverines, but they should do just that.

Here’s why the Spartans will take care of Michigan.

3. Marcus Bingham will build on Illinois performance

For a few weeks, after he tested positive for COVID, Marcus Bingham Jr. was struggling to get back on track. His defense wasn’t quite as dominant and he was averaging just 5.3 points per game.

Bingham looked like a shell of himself following his positive COVID test and his conditioning was lacking as well. He has played more than 20 minutes just one time since testing positive and everyone was worried that he was suffering from long COVID with serious conditioning issues and his game would be forever impacted.

And then he played well against Illinois and returned to form. He finished with 13 points, six rebounds, and four blocks in 18 minutes. He’s back on track.

Bingham will build on his performance against Illinois and give Hunter Dickinson fits.

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