Michigan State basketball tipoff: Analysis, prediction vs. Stony Brook
•What: Michigan State vs. Stony Brook
•When: 4 p.m. Sunday
•Where: Breslin Center, East Lansing
•Parking: With the MSU women playing at noon at Breslin, parking passes for the men’s game will be honored beginning at 2 p.m.
•TV/Radio: Big Ten Network / Spartan Sports Network, including WJIM 1240-AM and WMMQ 94.9-FM and SiriusXM Ch. 84
•Records/Rankings: MSU is 1-1 and ranked No. 2 in both major polls; Stony Brook is 0-3 and unranked.
•Coaches: MSU — Tom Izzo is 545-221 in his 23rd season, all with the Spartans. Stony Brook — Jeff Boals is 18-17 in his second season, both with the Seawolves.
•Series: This is the first meeting between these two programs.
Stony Brook
Pos. | Name | PPG |
F (11) | Junior Saintel (6-7) | 8.0 |
F (1) | Tyrell Sturdivant (6-7) | 12.3 |
G/F (22) | Akwasi Yeboah (6-6) | 12.7 |
G (1) | UC Iroegbu (6-0) | 10.0 |
G (5) | Jordan McKenzie (6-1) | 4.7 |
MSU
Pos. | Name | PPG |
C (44) | Nick Ward (6-8) | 17.5 |
F (2) | Jaren Jackson Jr. (6-11) | 16.0 |
G (22) | Miles Bridges (6-7) | 19.5 |
G (1) | Joshua Langford (6-5) | 11.0 |
G (5) | Cassius Winston (6-0) | 7.5 |
•Stony Brook update: The Seawolves have tested themselves early, losing games against Maryland, UConn and, Friday night, on the road against a good Ball State club. None of the games have been blowouts and Stony Brook led Ball State by eight points at the half. The Seawolves were supposed to have former Michigan Mr. Basketball DeShaun Thrower on this team, but the Muskegon native transferred to Ferris State, playing against the Spartans in the exhibition opener. Stony Brook is expected to finish in the middle of the pack in the American East Conference after losing two of its top three scorers from Jeff Boals’ first season as coach. Boals, a longtime Ohio State assistant, replaced Steve Pikiell, who took the Rutgers head coaching job before last season.
•MSU update: The Spartans are smarting a bit after an 88-81 loss to Duke Tuesday in the Champions Classic, a game they’d been eyeing for a long time. They’ll be without reserve forward Kenny Goins for at least a couple weeks after Goins suffered a knee sprain. The Spartans’ biggest struggle against Duke was on the glass, allowing the Blue Devils 25 offensive rebounds. MSU shooting guards Joshua Langford and Matt McQuaid are a combined 2-for-14 from beyond the arc in the Spartans’ first two games.
MORE:Couch: Michigan State needs Miles Bridges to be more like Grayson Allen
•Prediction: MSU figures to be in an ornery mood, especially Miles Bridges, after his tenacity was questioned in the Spartans’ loss to Duke. Stony Brook’s Tyrell Surdivant is a nice post player and a versatile 4-man. The Seawolves are a good low-major program with decent athletes. But this particular roster doesn’t have enough firepower to keep pace with MSU.
» Make it: MSU 87, Stony Brook 65
— Graham Couch