Michigan State basketball: 3 bold predictions vs. Southern Indiana

1. Michigan State leads by 10-plus essentially the whole game

Falling behind early has been Michigan State’s biggest downfall over the course of the Tennessee exhibition and against James Madison and that actually dates back to last season.

For some reason, this team just seems to come out of the gates slowly. That must change. And it will.

On Thursday night, the Spartans will race out to a big lead early on and maintain that throughout the course of the game. It’s not going to be something like 12-0 before the first media timeout or anything, it’s going to be something like 18-8 with 13 minutes to go in the first half and then the Spartans will build on that and lead by 15-20 by halftime.

I can see that 15-20-point lead maintained throughout the game. It’s not going to be some 40-point blowout, but it will be a nice, comfortable win after the James Madison game took about five years off of every fan’s life on Monday night.

Michigan State wins a stress-free game and we’re all happy heading into the Duke game.