Michigan State basketball will face Mississippi State on Thursday to kick off the NCAA Tournament. Let’s get bold.
The first NCAA Tournament game for Michigan State basketball is finally here. The pressure is on as the Spartans are officially in win or go home mode. I don’t know about you, but I’m nowhere near ready for this team to go home.
The Spartans are going to have to beat a gritty Mississippi State team if they’re going to keep their season alive. But if these three bold predictions come true, I don’t think MSU will have anything to worry about.
1. Jaden Akins hits four threes
I think it’s time for another Jaden Akins masterclass. It was around this time last year when Akins got hot from deep and helped propel the Spartans on their Sweet 16 run. I predict that this will happen again for Akins against Mississippi State.
Akins has hit four-plus 3-pointers four times this year, and hasn’t done so since mid-February. But Michigan State needs Akins to get hot if they want to make another run this year. Tom Izzo has talked a lot about how he thinks Akins will turn it around on offense soon, and I think it will finally start clicking for him again on Thursday.
2. Tolu Smith scores fewer than 10 points
Tolu Smith is an absolute beast for Mississippi State down low. So far this season, the Bulldogs’ big man is averaging 15.2 points and 8.4 rebounds per game. He will certainly be a handful for the Spartans’ bigs.
Smith, however, has been struggling recently. He has been dealing with a lingering injury and that appears to have severely impacted his game. Smith has only hit double figures twice in his last five games, and the two times he did he only scored 10 and 14 points. This is not the production he’s used to, but an NCAA Tournament game against a struggling Michigan State post position is a perfect spot for Smith to get back on track.
However, I don’t see that happening. I think the Spartan bigs will keep Smith in check and hold him under 10 points once again.
3. Carson Cooper double-double
I’ll be honest with you, I’m not predicting Carson Cooper to get a double-double for any logical reasons. Cooper’s only finished with double-digit points twice this year and 10-plus rebounds once. So it’d be silly for me to think he’s going to accomplish this based on his season alone.
But the reason I’m predicting this is because of the new look he’ll be sporting this tournament. After taking a brutal elbow to the nose against Purdue in the Big Ten Tournament, (no foul called by the way) Cooper is now sporting a new mask for the NCAA Tournament. His nose may be broken, but they’re going to worry about that in the offseason.
I predict that this new look for Carson is going to turn him into the player we all hoped he’d become. He’s going to have at least three dunks, finally get some shots down low to fall and dominate the glass en route to his first double-double this season.
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