Nebraska and Michigan State basketball are meeting on Friday night in Lincoln for what’s being called “the biggest game in program history” for the Cornhuskers.
Is that a little dramatic? Potentially, but Nebraska doesn’t exactly have a ton of history.
The Cornhuskers are 13-0 and playing the best basketball in school history, beating some quality teams over the past month to jump all the way to No. 13 in the polls. In fact, the Cornhuskers beat Creighton by 21, then beat Wisconsin by 30, and then went on the road to take down a really talented Illinois team, 83-80, in a shocker.
Michigan State, on the other hand, has been struggling a bit lately on the defensive end, giving up 72 points to Penn State, 69 to Toledo, 70 to Oakland, and 97 to Cornell over the past four games after not allowing a single team to score 70 before that — and the Spartans faced Duke, Arkansas, Kentucky, and North Carolina prior.
Friday’s game is going to be massive. Let’s get bold.
1. Coen Carr keeps the momentum going
Over the past couple of games, Coen Carr has realized that he can be a matchup nightmare for most teams. He is one of the best athletes in recent college basketball history, and he’s learning how to attack the basket more and draw fouls.
Making free throws, however, is a different story, but he’s working on that.
After scoring a career-high 22 against Oakland, he followed that up with 19 points against Cornell. I think we’ll see a second 20-point outing in three games as he’ll continue his ascent as an all-around hooper.
2. Cam Ward scores 10-plus off the bench
I don’t know why, but something in my gut is telling me that Cam Ward is about to have a huge game on the road.
It might be the fact that he’s finally healthy and he looked really solid against Cornell in his first full game back after that wrist issue. He did play 17 minutes against Toledo as well, but he still looked a little off and he has a chance to make some noise against a Nebraska team that doesn’t rebound nearly as well and who could struggle in the paint against Michigan State despite Rienk Mast being a star.
Ward is going to take advantage of his minutes off the bench, and it’s going to be tough for Tom Izzo to keep him off the floor. He’ll finished with 11 points and six boards.
3. MSU falls behind big early, storms back to win
Pinnacle Bank Arena is going to be absolutely rocking on Friday night as the Cornhuskers try to win the biggest game in program history, and they’re going to have plenty of momentum at the beginning of the game, building a 10-plus point lead in the first half.
The Spartans will come back after being down 15 at one point in the first half to cut the Cornhusker lead to just eight at halftime. The second half will be a much more complete effort from the Spartans on both ends as they capture the lead and then both teams will go back and forth until the final minutes.
Jeremy Fears Jr. makes some big plays on both ends to give Michigan State the lead, and then free throws will ice it as the Spartans steal a big road win, 74-72.