Michigan State basketball: 3 bold predictions vs. Ohio State

Fresh off a nice little break to end the month of December (yes, I’m including the Western Michigan game), Michigan State basketball will take on a suddenly-hot Ohio State team in Columbus on Friday night.

This won’t be an easy matchup for the Spartans who enter the game as underdogs, but Tom Izzo will have his guys ready.

Let’s dive into three of the boldest predictions for the return of Big Ten play.

1. Xavier Booker has his best game of the year

The last time Michigan State faced Ohio State, Xavier Booker was making his first career start and he finished with seven points, three blocks, and two rebounds in 17 minutes of a 60-57 home loss to the Buckeyes. He played one of the best games of his young career and looked much more motivated as a starter. This catapulted him into a career performance just a week later at Purdue.

We’ll see another strong performance from him against the Buckeyes on Friday night.

Booker will create some matchup problems for Ohio State and his length and athleticism will play a huge factor. He’s going to hit three big 3-pointers and finish with 16 points, eight rebounds, and two blocks off the bench. It’ll be his best game of the year.

2. Jeremy Fears wins the battle with Bruce Thornton

Much like a quarterback battle between opponents, Jeremy Fears Jr. is going to show up and win the point guard battle with Bruce Thornton.

Fears has been solid this year but he hasn’t quite lived up to his potential just yet while Thornton is one of the best point guards in the country. The veteran Buckeye point guard is averaging 17.4 points and 4.8 assists per game and he’s coming off back-to-back 30-point performances, but Fears loves a good challenge.

While I don’t quite see Fears scoring 15-20 points like Thornton has been known to do, I do see him playing some fantastic defense on the Ohio State point guard and holding him under 15 and forcing him into a few bad turnovers. Fears will finish with 10 points, eight assists, and three steals while Thornton will have 12 points, four assists, and four turnovers with a sub-40 percent shooting percentage. That’s a win for Fears against a really good player.

3. Michigan State wins

Winning on the road in the Big Ten isn’t easy but Michigan State has already done it once this year. However, the Buckeyes are not on the same level as Minnesota so this game will be much more difficult.

With students just coming back from winter break, though, this could be a relatively tame crowd and the atmosphere might not be the same as a Mackey Arena or a State Farm Center. Columbus isn’t an easy place to play, but Michigan State has shown that it doesn’t often get fazed by much this year and I expect that calmness to continue on Friday night.

Michigan State is entering the game as a 2.5-point underdog but the Spartans will not only cover but win by four, 80-76.