Michigan State basketball: Predicting the final 4 regular-season games

Michigan State basketball is coming off its most disappointing loss of the season but there are still four games remaining.

Michigan State basketball is coming off an embarrassing 78-71 loss to Iowa at home on Tuesday, ending a three-game winning streak. Michigan State was playing extremely well, but the panic is beginning to settle in once again as only four regular season games remain.

A few weeks ago, I predicted the final 10 games of the regular season, and so far those predictions are 5-for-6. With this bad loss to Iowa though, I think it’s time to re-evaluate our expectations going forward.

Most of my predictions are the same, but I am making one change to what I originally predicted.

So let’s dive right in and hope these predictions come true.

Two home games

Michigan State’s next game is another home date, this time against Ohio State. The Buckeyes are second to last in the Big Ten, so surely this will be an easy win right? They’ve also just fired their head coach, so surely the Spartans will have no issues.

Not so fast. The Buckeyes just beat Purdue 73-69 in their first game without their head coach. That, however, was in Columbus, and this matchup is in East Lansing, so I think that will be the difference. This game seems like one that could be close, but I think the Spartans will bounce back and blow the Buckeyes out, winning by at least 15 points.

The home finale comes against Northwestern and Spartan killer Boo Buie. This may feel like a game MSU’s destined to lose, but I don’t think so. The Wildcats’ second-best player, Ty Berry, is out for the season, so his absence will surely help MSU.

But I still would’ve picked Michigan State to win even if Berry never got hurt. MSU hasn’t lost on senior night since the 2011-12 season, and I don’t see that ending this year. The Spartans will win, but it will be a very close game.

So chalk the final two home games up as wins, taking the Spartans to a 15-3 record at home this year.

Two road games

MSU’s two road games will take them to the state of Indiana, with the first being a showdown with Purdue. I initially picked this game as a loss, and I’m gonna have to stick with that still. Before the Iowa loss, I was starting to think MSU may have a chance in this game, especially considering Purdue has been struggling recently. But MSU appears to have fallen even harder than Purdue, so that killed my confidence. The Spartans also never seem to win at Purdue, and unfortunately I predict that trend to continue.

The Spartans’ regular-season finale is another road game, this time against Indiana. A few weeks ago I predicted another loss for MSU here, but this is where I’m changing my mind.

Michigan State has now proven they can win on the road after beating Penn State and Michigan in consecutive games. The Spartans’ all-around game is also much improved, outside of the Iowa game, so I think they’ll be able to handle their business in another close game against the Hoosiers.

So as the season is wrapping up, I see MSU finishing 3-1 and ending the year with a 20-11 record. This also would take MSU to a 12-8 record in Big Ten play. This is nowhere near the season we hoped for, but it certainly could’ve been and felt a lot worse at times.