Michigan State basketball is back in action on Monday night after a short Christmas break. The last game that the Spartans played was a little over a week ago against Oakland, and it was a rather sleepy effort — especially defensively.
The Spartans were able to hold on, but the win was anything but impressive. The ugly sweaters were the highlight of the game.
Well, that and Coen Carr finally breaking through offensively.
Michigan State now moves onto Cornell on Monday night at the Breslin Center to close out non-conference play. It’s time to get bold for one last time in 2025.
1. Coen Carr scores 20 again
Getting the version of Carr that Tom Izzo got against Oakland was a sight to behold, and the Hall of Fame head coach has to be preaching “more”.
Carr has to know that he’s going to be the key to a deep run this season and a potential Big Ten title repeat. He needs to be scoring 15-20 a night for the remainder of the season if Michigan State wants to hang in the Big Ten standings.
This is his final “warm-up” game before conference play resumes, and I think he’ll score 20 for a second straight outing. He’ll finish with 21 points, six rebounds, and two blocks.
2. Jaxon Kohler flirts with 20 rebounds
Getting an entire week off from basketball had to make Jaxon Kohler hungry. He hasn’t been able to dominate the glass for over a week, and you know he wants to battle some opposing bigs for some tough rebounds. He craves that.
In his first game back since last Saturday, Kohler is going to have a huge day on the glass, grabbing nearly 20 boards against a Cornell team that averages 36.
Kohler might flirt with out-rebounding the entire Big Red team.
3. Michigan State finally scores 100
I predicted this would happen against Oakland, but I was way off. The Golden Grizzlies’ defense was not good enough to hold the Spartans under 80, but it was a sloppy game for the green and white.
Cornell may have an even worse defense than Oakland. The Big Red average over 90 points per game, but they give up about 85 per outing. And in three of their past four games, the Big Red have allowed opponents to score at least 90 points — the opponents who reached that mark were Samford, Towson, and George Mason.
It’s safe to say Michigan State is better than each of those squads. I think Michigan State reaches 100 but gives up 70-plus again.