Michigan State basketball: 3 bold predictions vs. pesky Minnesota team

Michigan State basketball will be back home on Thursday night before a quick two-game road trip to Maryland and Wisconsin next week.

And this one will be critical because a loss could derail the season. A win, on the other hand, could give the Spartans some confidence before going into two tough venues looking for big wins next week. This could go a long way.

Minnesota is 12-5 on the year which might not seem all that bad, but the Gophers don't have many quality wins on the resume -- Nebraska is probably the best victory.

With all that said, let's take a look at our boldest predictions for Thursday's game.

3. Jaxon Kohler hits double figures

I made this prediction before the Rutgers game, but I truly feel like we're going to see more Jaxon Kohler on Thursday night and I believe that he's due for a breakout after appearing in three games since returning from injury.

Kohler has played sparingly in three games since his return, but had his best performance against Rutgers where he finally scored his first bucket of 2023-24.

I think that gave him some confidence and it's going to spill over into Thursday night's game against the Gophers who aren't necessarily known for defense. In fact, they've given up at least 70 points in all but two Big Ten games thus far and 80-plus twice. Michigan State could score in bunches on Thursday and Tom Izzo said that he wants his post players to look to score more.

Kohler could be the guy down low on Thursday night.