Michigan State basketball: 3 bold predictions vs. Penn State

Penn State comes to town on Thursday night to face Michigan State basketball with a first Big Ten win on the line. Let’s get bold.

Michigan State basketball resumes Big Ten play on Thursday night against Penn State. The Nittany Lions are one of the worst teams in the Big Ten, so do you know what that means? We can get extremely bold with our predictions this game.

1. Carson Cooper hits double figures

It feels like we’re due for a big Carson Cooper game. But you might be asking yourself how scoring 10 points is considered a bold prediction. Surprisingly, he has yet to hit double figures in his MSU career.

Cooper has flirted with 10 points only twice this year. He scored seven points against Oakland and had a career-high eight points against Baylor. In MSU’s two most recent games, however, he has struggled scoring the ball only scoring four and three points.

Mady Sissoko has been playing well, so maybe that’s why we’ve seen Cooper’s stats decrease some, but I think this is a good spot for him to do well. I think MSU’s guards will get to the rim easily in this game, meaning there will be a lot of alley hoop and put back opportunities for Cooper. We need more consistent play down low, and this would be a great time to start seeing that out of Cooper.

2. AJ Hoggard flirts with a triple-double

AJ Hoggard has been very good recently after getting over his slow start. But has he been triple-double good? Not really, but most college players aren’t.

This would be no small feat if Hoggard accomplished it, but I think his game is coming together where he might get close to a triple-double. Scoring at least 10 points shouldn’t be a problem for him — he’s finished in double figures 10 games in a row. Getting 10 assists will be difficult, but he has already done it once this season against Stony Brook. Ten rebounds will be the hardest thing for him, and that’s why I’m predicting he’ll get close to a triple-double instead of accomplishing it.

His season-high rebound total is only six against Butler. The inability to even get close to 10 is what keeps me from predicting he will get a triple-double. AJ has been very close to a triple-double once in his career though. Last season against Villanova, AJ finished with 13 points, 10 assists, and eight rebounds. So he has proven he can flirt with it before, and that’s the stat line I’m predicting Thursday night against Penn State.

3. MSU scores 90+ points

Ninety points is a lot in college basketball. Typically you only see that many points when a Power Six team plays a mid major. Rarely do you see that many points in a conference game, especially in the Big Ten. But MSU has been clicking recently on both ends of the floor, and I predict the Spartans will run up the score on Thursday.

Penn State defensively is about middle of the pack nationally when it comes to scoring defense. They are giving up 70.3 points per game, not good but not bad either. However, against Power Six opponents is when they’ve really struggled. Against their five Power Six opponents, they are giving up a whopping 84 points per game. Now that’s terrible.

Michigan State basketball has hit this mark once this year when they scored 99 points against Stony Brook. We have also hit at least 80 points in four other games this year. With all the momentum we have right now, I think we are in for a masterclass on offense on Thursday.