No. 5 Michigan State heads back to the Breslin Center on Friday night riding the wave of its 79-73 win over No. 2 Duke, and the next test comes against a Northern Iowa team that can score but has already shown some vulnerability.
The matchup is set for Friday, November 13, at 7:00 p.m. EST, with FS1 carrying the game. Michigan State enters at 3-0, while Northern Iowa arrives at 2-1.
Tom Izzo’s group made a statement against Duke, and it was more one-sided than the final score suggests. Michigan State was listed as a 7.5-point underdog by Vegas, yet Jeremy Fears and company controlled the game from start to finish. The Spartans led the entire way and spent most of the night with a double-digit cushion.
Now comes the question that always follows a big win: can the Spartans avoid a letdown? Northern Iowa gives them a team that has already put up points this season, averaging 81.3 per game, but the Panthers have also allowed 81.3 a night. Their results so far include wins over Cornell (IA) and Green Bay, along with a 15-point loss to Furman.
Michigan State has been even more explosive offensively, averaging 88.6 points per game, and the expectation here is that the Spartans keep the pressure on. The concern is whether fatigue shows up early after such an emotional win, especially if the game starts slowly and turns into more of a second-half fight than expected.
Still, this Michigan State team looks built to handle that kind of spot. The veteran core has already been through demanding stretches, and even if some of the freshmen have an off night, players like Fears and Jordan Scott are there to steady things.
Northern Iowa’s scoring average may not hold up against this kind of defensive and physical pressure. The Spartans should keep attacking, keep the tempo up, and make the Panthers work for every possession.
Prediction: Michigan State 92, Northern Iowa 63.
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Washington is next, and it now carries real stakes for a team that had been fighting mostly for pride. Michigan State sits at 3-6 overall and 1-5 in the Big Ten, but the door remains cracked open in a way that seemed unlikely before the win over Michigan. Pat Fitzgeralds group has shown enough resilience to make the final stretch matter, and the possibility of a bowl game, even in an unusual scenario, is enough to keep the Spartans from treating any of these games like a formality. [Read more 🡒]