The focus in East Lansing on Tuesday afternoon has been on the football program as Pat Fitzgerald held his introductory press conference, but even he couldn’t help but talk about Michigan State basketball.
Fitzgerald touched on his friendship with Tom Izzo during his presser, revealing that the Hall of Fame basketball coached stopped by to congratulate him during lunch, even on a game day.
While Fitzgerald will be dominating headlines in East Lansing for the next week as signing day is on Wednesday and he’ll be busy piecing together a coaching staff and trying to retain players, Izzo and the basketball team will be opening Big Ten play on Tuesday night and then hosting a top-five Duke team on Saturday. This is also a huge week for the hoops program.
It’s time to get bold ahead of a huge Big Ten showdown between undefeated contenders Michigan State and Iowa.
1. MSU shoots a higher percentage from 3-point range
If there’s one thing that has impressed me most about the last few Michigan State basketball games, it would be the team’s willingness to only take good shots from 3-point range. That has resulted in much better shooting percentages from deep, and that’s going to carry over into Tuesday night.
Michigan State will shoot around 45 percent from deep against a tough Iowa defense and the Hawkeyes (who shoot around 39 percent) will be held in check at under 30 percent.
Shooting a higher percentage from deep against an objectively good shooting team will be a huge factor in the final score.
2. Three different Spartans record double-doubles
We’ve seen Jeremy Fears Jr. and Jaxon Kohler on double-double watch just about every night this season, so it’s not all that bold to expect both of them to hit that plateau in the same game, but I think a third double-double candidate will emerge against Iowa.
Who will it be? There are a few options.
Carson Cooper has been better offensively and could very well finish with 10 and 10, but Coen Carr, too, has the ability to record 10 boards with a double-digit scoring total. Want a sleeper pick for a double-double on Tuesday night? I think Cam Ward could come off the bench and put up some head-turning numbers. One of those three, along with Fears and Kohler, will record a double-double.
3. MSU scores 80
While I think this will be a really good game and Iowa is a tougher opponent than it’ll get credit for, I do see the Spartans winning and covering. The spread is 5.5 in favor of Michigan State, and I think the Spartans will win by 7-10.
On top of that, I believe Michigan State will score 80 points.
Why is this bold? Shockingly, ever since Fran McCaffery was fired, the Hawkeyes have been much better defensively. Ben McCollum has taken a page out of the football program’s book and has been preaching defense. The Hawkeyes have one of the best scoring defenses in the country, allowing just 61 points per game, and they have yet to give up more than 70 in a single outing.
That changes on Tuesday night with an 80-72 Michigan State victory.