Michigan State basketball at Illinois Tipoff: match analysis and a prediction

• What: Michigan State in Illinois

• When: 8 p.m. (HE) Saturday

• Or: State Farm Center, Champaign, Illinois

• TV / Radio: Radio Fox / Spartan Sports Network, including Wjim 1240-AM and WMMQ 94.9-FM; Siriusxm ch. 195 (Msu Broadcast), 84 (Illinois Broadcast)

• Records / rankings: MSU A 19-5 in total, 10-3 in the Big Ten and ranked n ° 9 in the coach survey and in the Associated Press survey, and is n ° 23 by the basketball analysis site University Kenpom.com and n ° 24 The NCAA net ranking. Illinois has a file of 17-8 in total, 9-6 in the Big Ten and not classified in the ballot boxes. Illini are n ° 15 nationally, by Kenpom and 12 in the net ranking.

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• Projected Paris line: Illinois -4 (via the prediction of Kenpom, where Vegas obtains its lines these days)

• Coaches: Michigan state -Tom Izzo has 726-300 in his 30th season as a chief coach, all with the Spartans. Illinois – Brad Underwood has a 269-123 sheet in his 12th season as a NCAA chief traction, including 160-96 in his eighth season with the Illini.

• Series: MSU leads 66-64 all time, after winning the first meeting this season, 80-78, on January 19 at the Breslin Center.

Projected lines

Msu

C (10) Szymon Lights (7-0) 5.2

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F (0) Jaxon Kohler (6-9) 7.5

G (3) Jaden Akins (6-4) 13.4

G (11) Jase Richardson (6-3) 10.3

PG (1) Jeremy fears Jr. (6-2) 7.4

Illinois

C (13) Tomislav Ivisic (7-1) 13.1

F (21) Morez Johnson (6-9) 6.8

F (3) Ben Humrichous (6-9) 8.6

G (4) Kylan Boswell (6-2) 11.5

G (32) Kaspar Jakucionis (6-6) 16.0

• MSU update: The Spartans struck a familiar fainting of February, losing three of their last four games, no more painful than Tuesday’s home defeat against Indiana, which prevented Tom Izzo from breaking the victories record of Bob Knight for the Moment and, more importantly, to put Msu to Msu Big Ten Title Hopes in Peril. Izzo said Thursday that it was his fault if his team was not prepared for the unexpected defense of the Indiana area and said that this error would not happen again. Given the shooting problems outside MSU, it is likely that another opponent will test this preparation. At 19-5 in total and 10-3 in the Big Ten, the Spartans are still in the mix for a conference title and a good seed for the NCAA tournament, but the upcoming calendar is ruthless. After Saturday’s match in Illinois, they welcomed Purdue on Tuesday, then play Michigan, before going to Maryland and welcoming Wisconsin.

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• Illinois update: The Illini seem to have crossed a rough patch and play again well, while they were heading for the first meeting with the Spartans. The Tomislav Ivisic departure center, which missed three games with Mono, was again alike in the last two games, a dominant victory in Minnesota and a home victory against the UCLA. The Illinois has good external shooters – namely the first year goalkeeper Kasparas Jakucionis – but, in the league, the Illini draw 29% beyond the arc, the last death in the Big Ten, even worse than Msu.

• Correspondence analysis: Remember how the Illinois Freshman Wing Will Riley came out of apparently nowhere to score 16 points the first 10 minutes against the Spartans in January? Well, it was not a stroke of luck. It was just his outing party. He is now on the NBA recovery advice and has since scored 27 and 24 points, respectively, in two recent games. In complete safety, Riley will be more in mind on the screening report this time and Msu will keep him with someone other than Jase Richardson, whom Riley ate at East Lansing. You will probably see a lot of Coen Car on Riley. Also emerging for Illini: the first year striker 6-9 Morez Johnson, who also gave MSU problems the last time. Tom Izzo is in love with Johnson’s game, describing him as a more qualified Antonio Smith.

The key to Illinois, however, remains their European duo, the leader Kasparas Jakucionis and the Tomislav Ivisic Center. Most Illinois losses can be attributed to one of them missing the game or, in Msu, Jakucionis playing only nine minutes before getting worse. MSU is likely to obtain a large dose of Jakucionis, which has scored 24 points in each of the last two illini games, while playing at least 36 minutes.

MSU obtained a big game of Holloman at the first meeting and a good performance of Jeremy Fears Jr. The Spartans need fears to take care of them and set the tone for a chance in it.

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In relation: Couch: Strugging to resume his mojo, Msu Basketball goes to Illinois for a game that is always very interesting

• Prediction: It will be completely the scene on Saturday evening in Champaign. The illini awaited this one, the crowd and the team. The Spartans have sometimes played fairly well this season to win a match like this. But not lately.

• Do it: Illinois 77, Msu 71

– Graham couch

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: MSU basketball in Illinois: prediction, overview, television information, Paris line