Michigan State basketball: 3 bold predictions vs. No. 10 Illinois

Michigan State basketball will face No. 10 Illinois in Champaign on Thursday night. Let’s dive into some bold predictions.

Michigan State basketball hits the road again as it heads to Illinois for a late-night matchup on Thursday. This will be MSU’s biggest test so far this Big Ten season and a win would do wonders for the season.

The Spartans haven’t found much success against Illinois in recent years, but that will all change if these bold predictions come true.

1. Illinois will score fewer than 70 points

I don’t know about you, but if MSU holds Illinois under 70 points, I think it has a great chance of winning. Unfortunately, that is going to be difficult to accomplish.

This year, Illinois is No. 25 in the country averaging 83.5 points per game. At home, they are slightly worse at 82.3 points per game. However, Illinois has been extremely dominant offensively recently. In three of their last four games, the Illini have scored at least 96 points. The fourth game in that stretch was at Purdue where they still scored 78 points.

Illinois has only been held under 70 points twice this season, with the last game being on Nov. 14. But I think MSU will be able to get it done. One of this team’s strong suits, especially from the guards, is defensive prowess. The offense sometimes struggles on the road, but as people always say, defense travels. That’s exactly what I think will happen in this game. Michigan State’s defense will dominate and the offense will do just enough to keep the Spartans in the game.

2. Jaxon Kohler scores 10-plus points

Outside of winning, this could be the best thing possible to happen. According to Tom Izzo, Jaxon Kohler is 100 percent and a “full go” after being out the entire season. That is a huge deal for the Spartans because Kohler brings something to the offense that nobody else does. His post moves are impressive and his footwork is the best on the team. MSU finally has a big man it can throw the ball to in the post that can create his own shot.

Kohler is more than capable of scoring 10 points in any game, but can he do it in his first game back from injury? That would be surprising. But that’s exactly what we do in our bold predictions, and that’s exactly what I’m predicting happens on Thursday.

3. Michigan State wins

I debated if I should include this in here for a while. This is Michigan State, so predicting a win should never be considered “bold” but there are a few reasons a win in this game seems unlikely.

First of all, Illinois has won the last three matchups including the last two in Champaign. MSU also hasn’t won a road Big Ten game yet this season, or any game outside the state of Michigan for that matter. The Spartans also did not look the best in their last outing at Northwestern.

Lastly, they are going into this game with two days less rest than Illinois. That usually is not a good sign for the away team. But I see this game playing out differently. I think the Spartans will shock the college basketball world and come out with a big win to keep their hopes alive in the race for the Big Ten title.