- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 416,663
- Reaction score
- 43
Will Michigan State basketball get back to the Elite Eight for the first time since 2019 on Friday night? Graham Couch of the Lansing State Journal is here to provide his thoughts on this.
Michigan State will battle No. 6 seed Ole Miss in the Sweet 16 on Friday night. The game in Atlanta is scheduled to tip off 7:09 p.m. ET. It will be televised on CBS.
Michigan State and Ole Miss both relatively handled their first two opponents of the NCAA Tournament, with the Spartans needing to work a little bit harder to reach this point. Michigan State overcame a double-digit deficit in its second round game against New Mexico to move on to the Sweet 16.
In previewing this matchup, Couch has the following thoughts on what could ultimately impact the outcome of the game:
"The Rebels present some challenges for MSU — the way they switch everyone defensively, how their guards dig down to help their bigs, the way they sacrifice offensive rebounding to get back in transition, the ability of their 5 man, Malik Dia, get downhill on the drive and also hit 3-pointers. The Spartans should have a decent edge on the glass. Ole Miss ranks in the 300s in offensive rebounding percentage and isn't that much better on the defensive end. The matchup with Dia is probably the most interesting for MSU. Is that Carson Cooper's assignment? Can Jaxon Kohler defend him, given that Kohler's offense could be an issue for Dia on the other end. Can the Spartans play a center on Ole Miss' undersized 4 man, Dre Davis, and play two bigs or even try Coen Carr on Dia?"
With all of that being said, does Couch like the Spartans to come out on top in this battle with the Rebels? Here's some of his prediction write-up on the game:
"I think MSU's A-game would beat Ole Miss' A-game more often than not. But last weekend, the Rebels played closer to that level more often than MSU did. If Jase Richardson plays like the Jase Richardson we've seen regularly since the beginning of February and the Spartans can get at least one of their other guards to knock down some outside shots, I like MSU's chances at figuring this out and moving on."
Check out Couch's full preview article on the Lansing State Journal to see his exact score prediction for this matchup between the Spartans and Rebels.
Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page onFacebookto follow ongoing coverage of Michigan State news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Robert Bondy on X @RobertBondy5.
This article originally appeared on Spartans Wire: MSU-Ole Miss Prediction, Matchup Analysis from LSJ's Graham Couch
Continue reading...
Michigan State will battle No. 6 seed Ole Miss in the Sweet 16 on Friday night. The game in Atlanta is scheduled to tip off 7:09 p.m. ET. It will be televised on CBS.
Michigan State and Ole Miss both relatively handled their first two opponents of the NCAA Tournament, with the Spartans needing to work a little bit harder to reach this point. Michigan State overcame a double-digit deficit in its second round game against New Mexico to move on to the Sweet 16.
In previewing this matchup, Couch has the following thoughts on what could ultimately impact the outcome of the game:
"The Rebels present some challenges for MSU — the way they switch everyone defensively, how their guards dig down to help their bigs, the way they sacrifice offensive rebounding to get back in transition, the ability of their 5 man, Malik Dia, get downhill on the drive and also hit 3-pointers. The Spartans should have a decent edge on the glass. Ole Miss ranks in the 300s in offensive rebounding percentage and isn't that much better on the defensive end. The matchup with Dia is probably the most interesting for MSU. Is that Carson Cooper's assignment? Can Jaxon Kohler defend him, given that Kohler's offense could be an issue for Dia on the other end. Can the Spartans play a center on Ole Miss' undersized 4 man, Dre Davis, and play two bigs or even try Coen Carr on Dia?"
With all of that being said, does Couch like the Spartans to come out on top in this battle with the Rebels? Here's some of his prediction write-up on the game:
"I think MSU's A-game would beat Ole Miss' A-game more often than not. But last weekend, the Rebels played closer to that level more often than MSU did. If Jase Richardson plays like the Jase Richardson we've seen regularly since the beginning of February and the Spartans can get at least one of their other guards to knock down some outside shots, I like MSU's chances at figuring this out and moving on."
Check out Couch's full preview article on the Lansing State Journal to see his exact score prediction for this matchup between the Spartans and Rebels.
Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page onFacebookto follow ongoing coverage of Michigan State news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Robert Bondy on X @RobertBondy5.
This article originally appeared on Spartans Wire: MSU-Ole Miss Prediction, Matchup Analysis from LSJ's Graham Couch
Continue reading...
