Michigan State basketball: Score prediction for Michigan rematch

Michigan State basketball dominated game one against Michigan, but can we expect the same result on Saturday night?

Michigan State basketball is back on the road as it heads to Ann Arbor to take on bitter rival Michigan. The Spartans have struggled on the road this season, but are coming off a solid 80-72 road win over Penn State on Wednesday. Can they make it two road wins in a row?

The Spartans and Wolverines have faced off once this season already, so before the game gets here let’s take a look back at how that game went then give a prediction for game two on Saturday.

How did game one go?

MSU and Michigan faced off earlier this season at the end of January in East Lansing. The Wolverines were without star guard Dug McDaniel, but that didn’t matter early on as they began the game hot. The Spartans did a good job keeping the game close, but Michigan had a 35-33 halftime lead.

This is the last good thing you could say about Michigan in this game. The Spartans were dominant the entire second half, outscoring the Wolverines by 21 en route to their 81-62 win.

The Spartans were led by Jaden Akins who exploded for 23 points. He shot a blistering 7-for-10 from 3-point range and was the main reason Michigan wasn’t leading by more at the break. A trio of other Spartans also finished in double figures, including Tyson Walker, AJ Hoggard, and Malik Hall.

Game two prediction

I think game two on Saturday will start similarly to game one. Michigan will have the crowd on their side, and with McDaniel playing will get off to a hot start. This time however, MSU will claw its way back and take a slim two-point lead into halftime.

The Spartans won’t dominate in the second half like they did in East Lansing, but they will do enough to win comfortably. Michigan will have a couple runs where they get it close, but Akins will hit a couple big threes to pull away late and help MSU cover the 6.5-point spread.

Final score: Michigan State 79, Michigan 68