Michigan State Basketball: 3 bold predictions for bounce-back game vs. Indiana

Michigan State basketball is hoping to avoid the dreaded three-game February losing streak and it’ll take a win over Indiana on Saturday to do so.

One team will have a three-game losing streak on Saturday night. Indiana and Michigan State basketball will be meeting up in East Lansing, both riding two-game skids. Both are in desperate need of a win in order to remain afloat in the Big Ten title race.

Tom Izzo said his team needs to get tougher, and he’s not wrong. The Spartans were out-toughed against Rutgers a week ago in Piscataway and then again against Wisconsin on Tuesday. This will be a huge test.

Michigan State will need to figure things out on offense and hit the boards more consistently against the Hoosiers on Saturday afternoon to avoid that three-game skid.

Here’s what I see happening.

3. Marcus Bingham wins battle vs. Trayce Jackson-Davis

A couple of weeks ago, Hunter Dickinson came to town as Michigan faced the Spartans for the first time this season. He’s been one of the best bigs in the conference for the past two years and everyone just assumed he would get whatever he wanted against the Spartans.

Dickinson scored 25 points, but most of that came against Julius Marble and Joey Hauser as Bingham locked him down and made him shoot well under 50 percent from the floor.

Now another elite Big Ten big is coming to town in the form of Trayce Jackson-Davis who leads the Hoosiers in scoring. Yet again, I think Bingham will win this battle in the paint. He may not be as thick as Jackson-Davis, but his length will cause problems. He’s going to hold TJD to under 50 percent shooting from the floor, blocking four shots in the process.

This is an important battle for the Spartans to win and Bingham will step up.