Michigan State Basketball: 3 bold predictions for road battle at Rutgers

1. Gabe Brown breaks out of slump, plays hero in win

Heading into this game, the first thing I looked at was the 3-point shooting percentage of Rutgers. Most teams seem to get hot against the Spartans from deep for whatever reason and even though the Scarlet Knights shoot a paltry 32 percent from distance, I think they’ll be able to heat up against Michigan State.

What this means is that Rutgers is going to hang around for a while against the Spartans. It’s just an inevitable feeling, especially since Geo Baker was held scoreless in 38 minutes against Northwestern in the Scarlet Knights’ last game and that won’t happen again.

Someone is going to have to step up and play hero for the Spartans on the road if they’re going to avoid an upset loss and that someone will be Gabe Brown.

Although he’s been in a slump for a few weeks, I think Brown is going to snap out of it and lead the Spartans past Rutgers on Saturday evening. He’ll finish with a team-high 18 points on 4-for-7 shooting from deep and he’ll play some lockdown defense as well. He’s going to gain some confidence back and that’s huge for the Spartans.

Michigan State wins this one — by more than two points, shockingly.