Spartans vs. Golden Gophers in Big Ten Showdown

The Michigan St Spartans are one of the best teams in the country despite being ranked 10th in the country. Of their four losses, three of them are to top-25 opponents, and the other was at the hands of a much improved Northwestern squad. Now they will take on an over-achieving Minnesota Golden Gophers team that recently beat 8th ranked Indiana on the road. College basketball experts still figure this Spartans team to be at or near the top of the difficult Big-10, and potentially make a deep run in the NCAA tournament. Games like this one will really show how focused and determined this Michigan St team is.

What makes MSU so hard to beat it their balance on both sides of the ball. They play tremendous defense, but are ranked 38th in the country in scoring, 14th in assists and 22nd in field goal percentage. Forward Draymond Green may be the anchor of this squad, but the play of sophomore Keith Appling is what is allowing the Spartans to run the floor with the best teams in the country. Appling is 2nd on the team in scoring with a 12.6 ppg average, and leads them with 4 assists per contest. It will take a mistake free effort on Wednesday to hold off a Minnesota team that relies heavily on guard play.

Trevor Mbakwe is sidelined due to injury which has forced Minnesota’s back court to take over on offense. Julian Welch and Austin Hollins are averaging just under 20 points per game, but they are very meticulous in their shot selection, and make them at a very high rate. Both are shooting well over 80% from the free throw line, and over 45% from the field. It will be imperative that they keep the MSU defense honest by knocking down shots from the perimeter.

The disparity in points per game between these teams can be directly contributed to the Golden Gophers slow pace of play. However, the tremendous advantage that the Spartans have rebounding will play a crucial part in this game if Minny is unable to make shots at a high percentage. NCAA basketball handicappers have listed Michigan St as heavy 10.5 point home favorites, but as the Hoosiers found out, Minnesota can be a handful. Tune in Wednesday for what promises to be a competitive Big-10 battle.

 

Related posts:

1. Big-10 Basketball: #5 Michigan St Spartans v. #16 Wisconsin Badgers
2. Wolverines host Spartans in Battle of Michigan
3. Spartans and Buckeyes Meet in Big-10 Battle
4. Big Ten Match-Up: Wisconsin Badgers @ Purdue Boilermakers
5. NCAA Basketball Elite Battle Tuesday: Spartans vs. Orange

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