Michigan and Michigan State basketball fans have been waiting for Friday night’s game ever since that shove heard ‘round the state by Tre Holloman last season.
The Spartans have won four straight games in the rivalry but Michigan is the favorite this time around as it sits at 19-1 on the season after beating No. 5 Nebraska at home. The Wolverines are ranked third in the nation and Michigan State is seventh.
This is one of the most anticipated games in the rivalry’s history.
Let’s get bold.
1. Another Big Ten POY award for Jeremy Fears
A week ago, Jeremy Fears played as well as anyone in the Big Ten, earning the conference’s player of the week honors. He became the first Spartan to win the award in years, and he could be the first to win back-to-back Big Ten Player of the Week awards since Nick Ward in 2017-18.
An elite performance on Friday night will lock up his second straight Big Ten Player of the Week recognition. He just scored 29 with nine assists in a win over Rutgers which was a good start to the week, and he’ll record his second double-double in three games, putting up 16 points and 11 assists against the Wolverines.
All-American soon?
2. Jaxon Kohler gets back on track in a big way
I know, I predicted a career performance for Jaxon Kohler against Rutgers, and I was sadly let down as he struggled from deep all night. He did, however, make one of the biggest plays in overtime, converting an and-one to put Michigan State up five and the Spartans never looked back.
Unfortunately, Kohler has been struggling with his shot a bit over the past couple of weeks, and fans are starting to wonder when he’s going to find his rhythm again.
That will happen on Friday night as he hits some massive threes and finishes with 17 points and 10 rebounds. He’ll have to battle for everything, but his ability to stretch the floor may cause some problems for the Michigan bigs.
3. Michigan State pulls off the “upset”
Do I think Michigan State beating Michigan would qualify as an upset seeing as it’s in East Lansing and both teams are ranked in the top 10? No, but Vegas lists Michigan State as a home underdog, which actually works in the Spartans’ favor. Izzo loves utilizing the underdog mentality before a big game.
The Wolverines are favored by 1.5 on Friday night, but Michigan State is going to come out with much more energy than it showed against Rutgers, and both Fears and Izzo will make sure of that.
I don’t think this will be a “dominant” performance like many fans would love to see, but Michigan State will be in control for most of the game and then put it away with some free throws late and maybe another big Divine Ugochukwu three. The Spartans win 74-69.