A crucial week: Northwestern and Indiana preview.

We are now in the month synonymous with college basketball, March; a month Tom Izzo knows quite well. The good thing about being a Michigan State fan is that the outside fans don’t really pay attention to the team until March. I definitely see this in the national media because I almost never see MSU get called out for the play that hasn’t been up to the program standard, and then when March hits everyone is picking the Spartans. This is mostly because of the track record Tom Izzo has in march. Izzo has led the Spartans to 8 final four appearances including a National Championship. Tom is going to need to pull something out of his bag of tricks this week because MSU is desperate for a win. ESPN Bracketologist, Joe Lunardi currently has the Spartans as an 8 seed in the NCAA tournament but they could drop a seed if they can’t get a win this week.

On Wednesday night the Northwestern Wildcats are coming to the Breslin Center for a huge Big 10 matchup at 7PM on the BTN. Earlier in the year Northwestern took down MSU in a convincing win on their homecourt where Malik Hall was actually held scoreless. Now, it’s time for Sparty to return the favor! Northwestern sits at 20-9 on the season. And while this is a good record, I think it is a bit deceiving. They are outside the top 100 in points per game and points allowed. They’re very average on both ends. At least the stats show MSU is an elite defense. I mean Northwestern literally lost to Chicago State, one of the worst division 1 teams. The Wildcats are led by First-Team All Big 10 player, Boo Buie. Buie, the senior, has one of the best names and games in all of college basketball averaging 19 points a game. Buie is a great shooter averaging 2.5 3s per game but he has a deep bag. Boo can put it on the floor and create his own shot and this is something Northwestern relies on a lot. Oh and he is also a 5th year senior so he’s a great leader. The Wildcats have a great array of guards along with Buie. Brooks Barnhizer and Ryan Langborg are a perfect complement to his game. Unfortunately for Northwestern they lost Senior, Ty Berry for the season. Berry who averaged 11.6 was one of the emotional leaders for the team. Northwestern is also coming off a loss on Saturday as they fell to Iowa. Northwestern needs a win to keep the double bye in the Big 10 tourney that they currently have.

Wednesday is going to be an emotional night at the Breslin Center. The game on Wednesday is also Senior night for the Spartans. This is the senior class that got to MSU the same time I did for my first year. It’s been amazing to see how they’ve grown as individuals and as a unit. 6 Spartans will be honored at Senior Night: AJ Hoggard, Tyson Walker, Mady Sissoko, Malik Hall, Davis Smith and Steven Izzo. As the regular season comes to an end it will be their last game in Breslin. But, at the end of the day Michigan State will have to use that emotion to go get a win. The Spartans have dropped their last 3 games and 2 of them were at home. The crowd will be extra crazy on Wednesday and it will be essential to get off to a good start. Northwestern is a very methodical team so the Spartans can’t let them get into rhythm or it could be a long night. One area where State has an advantage is in size down low. Northwestern main big man Nick Martinelli is only 6’7 and the only other taller wildcats do not play much because they are liabilities. Although Xavier Booker started against Ohio State, Izzo went back to Mady Sissoko as the starting center against Purdue in attempt to match Edey’s size. Northwestern is towards the bottom of Division at #242 in field goal % allowed per game. In my opinion whether it is a guard driving or a big man posting up, the ball needs to get into the paint for the Spartans. This is a gritty Northwestern team but I believe Izzo will make the adjustments needed to get this team back on track. A big shocker here but I will take the Spartans to win big on Senior night Wednesday.

After Wednesday, the Spartans have one more regular season game left. That game is against the Indiana Hoosiers at legendary Assembly Hall on Sunday afternoon at 4:30 on CBS. It has not been a great season for the Hoosiers and they won’t be making the NCAA tourney unless they go on a run and win the Big 10 Tournament. Anytime you lose 2 players to the NBA draft like Indiana it’s going to be very tough to replicate that the next season. Head Coach, Mike Woodson knew this and went into the transfer portal in the offseason. Woodson recruited and eventually signed one of the top portal players Center, Kel’El Ware from Oregon. Scouts now have Ware going in the first round of the NBA draft because of his breakout season at Indiana. Ware averages a near double double with 15 points and 9 rebounds. Alongside Ware in the front court is Malik Reneau and Mackenzie Mgbako. This trio of big men combine for 60% of the teams points. This definitely worries me because MSU has struggled to defend elite big men like Zach Edey and Kyle Filipowski this season. Michigan State as a team does not struggle to rebound but Sissoko and Cooper can’t seem to come down with a board without fumbling the ball. Indiana, winners of their last 3 games, have been playing much better ball recently. This seems like a trend for MSU, they always play teams when they’re at their best and never catch a break. Even though Indiana has been better recently they still allow more points than they score on average. Tyson Walker should be guarded by Hoosiers’ guard Trey Galloway on Sunday. Galloway is a pesky defender but often gets beat for being too aggressive. Walker needs to bring it because Assembly Hall will be rocking no matter what. The advanced stats say that MSU is a better team by a decent margin; MSU 21st in KENPOM and Indiana 91st.

It is always difficult to win on the road in college basketball and especially at Assembly Hall. I think that the outcome of this game depends on a few things. The first, and this may sound weird, is the result for the Spartans on Wednesday. If MSU wins against Northwestern they will all but secured a spot in the NCAA Tournament. This may lead to a lackadaisical performance by MSU against Indiana. Another factor in this game will be the foul situation. MSU let Purdue get to the free throw line 30 times last week and Indiana’s bigs are going to put the same pressure on the paint. Tom Izzo desperately needs a big man such as Jaxon Kohler to make a difference off the bench in a game like this. Kohler has had a pretty disappointing sophomore season but with all the bigs Indiana plays, he might have a chance to make a moment. I think this game will be very close and that Sparty will clutch up. This is a random guess but I will say Tyson Walker hits a buzzer beater to end the regular season. Go Green!