It's been quite the season for Michigan State basketball as it has the nation's second-longest active winning streak behind Duke who almost saw that crumble on Monday night at home against a bad NC State team. That makes me think that Michigan State could also be in for a clunker.
To be fair, you could argue that two of the past three games were "clunkers" per the Spartans' standards. They beat Rutgers by just seven and Penn State by only five. That's a far cry from the team that dominated Washington and Nebraska by 30-plus each and probably should have beaten Ohio State and Northwestern by 20 on the road.
But Michigan State has come back down to earth a bit in this recent stretch but it's still sitting at 17-2 on the year and 8-0 in the Big Ten.
It'll get a decent test on Tuesday from a Minnesota team that was 0-6 and in last place in the Big Ten but has won three in a row, beating Iowa, Michigan, and Oregon in the process. This is not going to be an easy matchup for the Spartans on Tuesday night.
That's why the line, according to Draft Kings, is tighter than one would expect.
Line: Michigan State -13.5
Over/Under: 139
Moneyline: Michigan State -1100 | Minnesota +700
The line has already moved in the Spartans' direction since last night and it feels like the Spartans should be a lock to win, but this Minnesota team is different than the one Michigan State saw back in December. These Gophers are playing with confidence and have been beating some solid teams.
I just don't think that matters, especially in East Lansing.
Michigan State is going to come out firing and will finally find its stroke from deep. I do think the Gophers will make this one uncomfortable for a good chunk of the game before Michigan State finally shuts the door, but the Spartans won't come close to covering the spread. Michigan State wins 77-71 and it only looks closer because of a couple of garbage time threes by Minnesota.