Michigan State basketball: 3 bold predictions vs. North Carolina in Maui

Tom Izzo and Michigan State basketball will be back in action on Wednesday night against No. 12 North Carolina and it’ll be yet another tough test for the Spartans.

North Carolina, like Michigan State, is coming off a disappointing loss on Tuesday. The Tar Heels lost by 13 points to a really good Auburn team and they gave up 85 points in the process. The Spartans lost 71-63 to Memphis after drawing close a couple of times and then fading away because of some sharp-shooting by the Tigers’ star guard.

But that’s in the past. It’s time to look ahead to the North Carolina matchup in the third-place game of the Maui Invitational on Wednesday night.

Here are three of my boldest predictions.

1. Jaden Akins stays hot, leads all scorers

Jaden Akins had an impressive showing against Memphis but he accounted for just 12 points with five rebounds, making 5-of-11 shooting. He also made a couple of threes and looked all-around solid compared to his offensive performance on Monday. He’s going to have a big game yet again, making 8-of-15 shots with 21 points and four rebounds to lead all scorers on either side.

This isn’t the same Akins from the past three seasons.

2. Michigan State makes 50 percent from deep

This is one of the predictions I’ve been hoping would come true all season but hasn’t yet. I think that changes on Wednesday.

Michigan State took a huge step in the right direction on Tuesday, making 7-of-20 shots from long range and I think they’re about ready to finally live up to their sharp-shooting billing. The Spartans have shooters but they just haven’t been taking open shots with confidence. That changed on Tuesday and will continue on Wednesday against North Carolina.

I see Michigan State shooting 10-for-20 from deep against North Carolina.

3. MSU has a chance to win on final possession

Down one with 20 seconds to go, Michigan State basketball will have a chance to beat North Carolina. Unfortunately, the play drawn up by Izzo during the timeout won’t go as planned and Michigan State will have to rush to get a shot up and it won’t fall, leading to a couple of North Carolina free throws on the other end and a missed buzzer-beater by the Spartans as they fall 73-70.

A tough loss for the Spartans, but something to learn from.