Michigan State Basketball: 3 keys for Spartans in 2021-22 matchup vs Kansas

Match Up: No. 3 Kansas vs. Michigan State

Time: 7:00 PM ET

Place: New York City, Madison Square Garden

TV/Streaming: ESPN

Michigan State Basketball may be unranked heading into the 2021-22 season but don’t underestimate them. They return a fair amount of production from last year and brought in one of the biggest impact transfers from the portal this offseason. This is a big opportunity to make some big noise on the national radar against a preseason top-5 team in the Kansas Jayhawks,

Kansas is the favorite to win this game against a Michigan State Basketball team that enters the season unranked. The Jayhawks are Final Four contenders by many college basketball experts, while the Spartans were picked to finish in sixth place in the Big Ten this season in the conference preseason poll. Let’s take a look at the three keys for Michigan State to pull off an upset against Kansas.

Max Christie needs to score 25 or more points

This may seem like a lot to ask a true freshman playing in his first regular-season game on a neutral court on national television to score twenty-five or more points but it is needed for the Spartans to pull off the upset against a top-three team with talent and depth. Christie has shown flashes of being able to score in Michigan State’s two exhibition games and he will more than likely play 30 plus minutes against the Jayhawks.

Christie will be able to get his shots up in this game and if he makes a couple of three-pointers early, he will be able to put up enough points to give the Spartans an opportunity to upset the Jayhawks. He is 6’6 and should be able to shoot over the smaller Kansas guards but he must be confident early and look for his shot against a good defensive-minded Jayhawks team.