Busting Brackets
Fansided

NCAA Basketball: Michigan on top, Spartans tough task among key questions

By Tristan Freeman

Feb 25, 2021; Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA; Michigan Wolverines head coach Juwan Howard and the bench reacts during the second half against the Iowa Hawkeyes at Crisler Center. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 25, 2021; Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA; Michigan Wolverines head coach Juwan Howard and the bench reacts during the second half against the Iowa Hawkeyes at Crisler Center. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
4 of 5
Next
Michigan State’s A.J. Hoggard, Rocket Watts NCAA Basketball 210225 Msu Osu 226a
Michigan State’s A.J. Hoggard, Rocket Watts NCAA Basketball 210225 Msu Osu 226a /

4. Does Michigan State need to get at least one win this week against Michigan?

Part 2) What is the key to the Spartans pulling off the upset?

Stevenson

I kinda think they do, Those losses won’t destroy them but they are close enough to the bubble where they kinda need to go 2-1 down the stretch in their last 3 games.

Tineo

Izzo in March is a scary sight to see. He’s got his boys playing at the right time. However, the gauntlet of a final week the Spartans are going to have is grueling. Michigan State plays four games in seven days, headlined by a Thursday-Saturday affair with No.2 Michigan.

They do need to get at least one win over the weekend, and it is certainly possible they can. Hunter Dickinson seems to be a massive key around the Wolverines game-planning, even with Livers shooting 45% from beyond the arc. Forcing the Wolverines to take tough and contested 3’s might be the way to go.

Neutralize Dickinson and suffocate the guards at the perimeter would ideally be the plan. Michigan State has the average length to do so, with six of their seven key players being 6-5 or taller.

Juwan Howard vs. Tom Izzo is certainly a much more exciting sight to see than Jim Harbaugh vs. Mel Tucker.

Zacher

I would say yes.  That loss to Maryland really, really hurt, and beating Indiana might not do much to bolster the Spartans’ hopes – although they desperately need that win to not fall further down the ladder.  They may be able to afford to drop both games, but they will need to scoop up, at the very least, two quality wins in the Big Ten Tournament – and that is easier said than done.

Defeating the Wolverines is also easier said than done, but a win against Michigan – paired with a win over Indiana – should put the Spartans on the right side of the bubble, and barring any bubble bursters come conference tournament time, they should be in line to earn a bid.

It’s simple: they must find a way to shut Hunter Dickinson down.  The Spartans are among the best in the Big Ten in defending outside the perimeter, holding teams to just 31.5% on three-pointers – but they are among the worst at guarding inside, ranking 11th at 50.2%.

It’d be one thing if this game was in the midst of the three-game stretch in the Big Ten where Dickinson averaged just 6.7 points – but now, since the Wolverines have returned from their pause, Dickinson is averaging – across five games – 14.0 points, 9.4 boards, and 2.2 blocks.  He’s shooting 63.5% inside for the season, and he is just the type of player who can tear apart a weak interior defense – a la Michigan State’s defense.

Zinkula

The Big Ten Tournament will provide additional opportunities if need be, but if the Spartans want to feel somewhat comfortable heading into it, at least one victory over Michigan is probably necessary. ESPN’s Joe Lunardi currently has Michigan State in the “First Four Out” and this doesn’t account for potential “bid steals.”

What can Tom Izzo’s squad do to pull off the upset in one of these games? I’m as pro-analytics as anyone, which means I generally despise the mid-range jumper. Against an interior defense as good as Michigan’s, however (No. 2 in 2PT% at 41.3%), and given the Spartans are mediocre from three (213th-best 33.1%), embracing the mid-range might actually be the smart approach.

Michigan State already takes these shots at the 27th-highest rate in the nation (per hoop-math) and has made a 31st-best 42.5% of them. Aaron Henry, Rocket Watts, and Joshua Langford, among others, are capable of taking and making mid-range jumpers. They might need to do just this in order to upset the Wolverines.

Brown

They need both, but they’re not going to get both. For the Spartans to beat Michigan, Rocket Watts and Aaron Henry need to show. Maryland’s defense made Watts a non-factor, and he fouled out. Henry was under pressure by the Terps every time he touched the ball.

Well, they are not going to be able to stop Hunter Dickinson. That’s not happening. The trio of Rocket Watts, Joshua Langford, and Aaron Henry need to play like their season depends on it because it does. No one feels sorry for the Spartans or any of these blue bloods. The Spartans need to show some fight and better than the Wolverines in the hustle categories.

Thedinga

Although it sure wouldn’t hurt, it likely isn’t needed. The Spartans’ magic number is probably 16 wins. They can achieve that through a win over Indiana and two wins in the B10 tournament, regardless of how they do in the two games versus Michigan. However, getting a win over Michigan probably solidifies them as a tournament team and likely out of the first four (if they take care of Indiana).

The biggest key for Michigan State starts with limiting Isaiah Livers. Look, Dickinson is going to get his points, and he’s too big and skilled to totally take him out of the game. But, if you stick on Livers and force him into tough shots—that will go a long way. Many of Michigan’s offensive runs come off the back of a Livers bucket—he is the soul of the team.

Home/NCAA Basketball News