NCAA BASKETBALL – WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2010
Minnesota Golden Gophers (12-4) vs. #7 Michigan State Spartans (13-3)
The Golden Gophers of Minnesota will travel to East Lansing on Wednesday as they take on the #7 Michigan State Spartans at the Jack Breslin Student Events Center.
Click Here for more Free Expert NCAA Basketball Picks
The Spartans defeated the Golden Gophers 64-56 the last time the two teams met on March 13, 2009 in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten tournament.
The Spartans recorded their eighth victory in their last nine — losing only to No. 1 Texas back on Dec 22, by beating Iowa 71-53 on Saturday. Draymond Green had 14 points and 11 rebounds, while Kalin Lucas also scored 14 points in the win. Michigan State shot 55 percent from the floor and out rebounded Iowa 38-22. Green has arguably been the Spartans’ best all-around player and leads MSU in rebounding (7.9 a game) and steals (23). He is second in scoring (11.3) and blocks (12), and he is third with 52 assists. A couple of areas that MSU will need to improve on is getting its defense to play the entire 40 minutes while avoiding careless passing and traveling violations offensively. The Spartans gave up 18 turnovers in their game against Iowa.
Minnesota’s defense loves to pressure the ball handler and force mistakes. They forced 17 turnovers in their 73-62 victory over Ohio State on Saturday. Blake Hoffarber had a career-high 27 points, including 7 of 9 3-pointers, one shy of equaling his own school record while Lawrence Westbrook added 15 points in the win. The Gophers are one of the better defensive teams in the Big Ten and leads the league in defensive field goal percentage (.379), blocked shots (6.5 per game) and steals (11.2). Their defense has allowed them to jump out to 3-1 in the Big Ten.
The odds makers have Minnesota as +7 ½ -point underdogs in this one.
Minnesota hasn’t beaten MSU since the 2005-06 season, losing five straight. Now they will have to win in East Lansing, a place that is never easy. The Spartans will need to watch the turnovers against a Minnesota team that can make you pay for sloppy play.
Expect the Spartans to edge out the Gophers in this one.
- Minnesota is 7-2 ATS in its last 9 games
- Minnesota is 8-1 SU in its last 9 games
- The total has gone OVER in 6 of Minnesota’s last 9 games
- Minnesota is 2-11 ATS in its last 13 games on the road
- Michigan State is 8-1 SU in its last 9 games
- Michigan State is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home
- Michigan State is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games when playing Minnesota
- Michigan State is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing Minnesota
Click Here for more Free Expert NCAA Basketball Picks
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.