Michigan State basketball: 3 bold predictions vs. No. 13 Wisconsin

Michigan State basketball is hoping to pull off a major upset on Friday night so let’s dive into some bold predictions.

Michigan State basketball has a chance to turn its season around on Friday. The Spartans head to the first-place team in the Big Ten, Wisconsin, for a crucial Friday night matchup. A win will be difficult to come by in this game, so let’s cross our fingers and hope some of these bold predictions come true.

1. Michigan State out-rebounds Wisconsin

Maybe this isn’t the boldest prediction in history, but it’s unlikely to happen. Wisconsin is the No. 56 team in the country, averaging a +5 rebounding margin per game. The Spartans however are No. 145, only averaging a +1 margin per game.

The Spartans also got pummeled by the Badgers on the boards in their first meeting. Wisconsin won that battle 36-22 which is just flat-out embarrassing. To make matters worse, MSU’s last game against Maryland saw a similar result. The Terps outrebounded MSU 37-22 which makes it very surprising that MSU even won that game.

All of this points towards another bad night rebounding the ball. But I predict the exact opposite. I don’t think MSU will crush Wisconsin on the boards, but I predict Michigan State will win the rebounding battle 35-33.

2. Tre Holloman double-double

If this happens, I have no doubt the Spartans will win this game. Tre Holloman is a great player off the bench for MSU, but is he good enough to get a double-double? I’m not so sure, but to be fair almost nobody is in college basketball if they come off the bench.

Tre’s double-double would come from points and assists. He has shown that he can get to 10 in each stat, but getting there in both stats in the same game would be impressive. Tre has been scoring the ball well recently and is coming off a 12-point game at Maryland. The two games prior, he finished with eight and nine points, respectively. So scoring at least 10 points doesn’t seem all that unrealistic.

But combining that with 10 assists is where this gets bold. Tre has hit this mark once this season against Georgia Southern and has had three other games where he reached six assists. However, Tre leads the nation in assist-turnover margin, so this by no means is impossible for him to accomplish.

The hardest part for Tre will be if he gets enough minutes. He played well against Maryland and was rewarded by being in at the end of the game, so if he continues to play well then I imagine Tom Izzo will make the same move again. But, like I said, if this prediction comes true there is almost zero doubt in my mind that MSU wins this game.

3. Both teams score under 65 points

I’m not sure if this prediction would help MSU out or not, but regardless I think this is going to be a low-scoring game. Historically, Wisconsin has always been one of the slowest-paced teams in the Big Ten. However, that hasn’t been the case this season. They have scored 65 or more points every game this season except for one. Scoring less than 65 happens regularly in college basketball, but for Wisconsin to only do it once is impressive.

On the flip side, Michigan State has a good enough offense where they should likely score more than 65 every night. That has been mostly true as MSU has fallen short of this mark only twice this season. However, those games were against Wisconsin earlier this season and against Maryland in their last game.

Part of me thinks MSU’s offense is going to respond tonight and play very well, but I think it’s more likely they struggle yet again. Thankfully, the Michigan State defense has been outstanding and can keep Wisconsin to a low score as well. I predict that this game will be a defensive battle with both teams failing to hit 65 points.