- Analysis
- My 10* Marquee Classic is on Michigan St at 9:00 ET.
Tom Izzo and his Spartans started at No. 13 at the opening of the 2020-21 season and struggled in the regular season. Mich St made the NCAA tourney at 15-12 but was eliminated in a First Four game by UCLA. Michigan State began the current season unranked but enters this game at Wisconsin arnked No. 14 at 14-3 (5-1 in the Big Ten). Wisconsin was also unranked in the preseason but is now No. 8, with a 15-2 overall record, including 6-1 in the Big Ten. The Badgers are tied atop the conference with Ilinois, while the Spartans are just a half-game back.
The Spartans do not have a 'big gun,' as the team's leading scorer is SF Brown (14.2 & 4.8). 7-0 center Bingham adds 9.7 PPG and a team-high 7.1 RPG. Joining those two in the starting lineup are guards Christie (10.4) and Walker (6.8 & 5.2 APG) plus the 6-9 Hauser, who has disappointed averaging only 6.8 & 6.1. Bench strength comes from the 6-9 Hall (9.7 & 4.8) and the 6-9 Marble (6.4 & 3.1) plus guard Hoggard (6.5 & 4.5 APG). Izzo-coached teams always play excellent defense and the Spartans are allowing 65.6 PPG, holding opponnest to just 39.1% shooting (24th).
Wisconsin featured four, 5th-year seniors and three regular seniors last season but of the 14 scholarship players this season, 10 are classified as freshmen for eligibility purposes. Guard Davison began the season with 124 career starts and is averaging 15.1 & 4.1. The great news for Wisconsin fans is, fellow guard Davis (7.0 & 4.1 LY) is averaging 22.1 & 7.5 this season. Also back, after limited playing time last season, are the 6-9 Wahl (11.0 & 5.7) and the 7-0 Crowl (8.8 & 4.8). Freshman guard Hepburn (7.2) rounds out the starting-five. No other player averages as much as 4 PPG and that's not good news considering that Wahl is listed as questionable.
Wisconsin extended its winning streak to seven with an 82-76 victory at Northwestern on Tuesday to move into a first-place tie with Illinois in the conference, while the Spartans were upset at home by Northwestern 64-62 in their last outing on Saturday, snapping a NINE-game winning streak. Wisconsin has won the last two matchups with Michigan State, including a 64-63 victory in the last meeting at home at the Kohl Center. However, prior to that, the Spartans had won EIGHT straight against the Badgers. Winning at the Kohl Center is NEVER easy but I really like taking a Tom Izzo team off and embarassing loss like at home to Northwestern. I sent out an "Upset Alert" Thursday on Indiana over Purdue and it's "deja vu all over agin" tonight with the Spartsna beating the Badgers.
Good luck...Larry
