Michigan State is headed to the dreaded Mackey Arena on Thursday night to face No. 8 Purdue. I say dreaded because Michigan State hasn’t won in West Lafayette since 2014.
The Spartans will have a chance to end the drought against a Purdue team that’s lost at home three times this season. This is going to be a tough battle, but the Spartans have a real shot at ending the 23-year Mackey drought.
Let’s get bold ahead of another top-15 matchup.
1. Jeremy Fears has 20/10 again
Jeremy Fears always seem to show up on the biggest stages and this game would fit that exact description. Fears had really good games against Illinois and Michigan, so I’m fully expecting him to play really well against the Boilermakers. I just know he’s chomping at the bit to face Braden Smith.
This could be a Big Ten Player of the Year elimination game at the point guard position, and I think Fears steps up in a big way to follow up his “off” game against Ohio State.
Fears finishes with 23 points and 11 assists to give Michigan State a real chance.
2. MSU out-rebounds Purdue by 10-plus
Michigan State is a better rebounding team than Purdue by about five boards per game and that gap feels like it’s always erased in Mackey. Purdue seems to play its best all-around games against the Spartans every year, and I’m fully expecting that once again on Thursday.
But Michigan State is going to dominate on the glass.
The Boilermakers have two really good bigs who can give Carson Cooper and Jaxon Kohler a hard time on the glass, but Coen Carr and Jordan Scott will be crashing the boards hard from the wing to try and kick-start some fastbreaks. I also see the Spartans dominating the offensive glass.
Michigan State wins the rebounding battle by at least 10.
3. Michigan State covers
I was a little surprised to see the opening line for Thursday’s game at just 5.5 points in favor of Purdue given that Michigan State hasn’t played well at Mackey in a decade, but Vegas knows something.
There’s a reason the line is so short, and I’d assume Michigan State comes out and surprises some people. The Spartans will have Purdue on the ropes late, but some clutch threes by Fletcher Loyer are going to sink the green and white — it’ll be tight though.
Michigan State falls just short, 73-70.