Michigan State vs. Southern Utah tipoff: Analysis, prediction
Graham Couch•What: Michigan State vs. Southern Utah
•When: 6 p.m. Saturday
•Where: Breslin Center, East Lansing
•TV/Radio: Big Ten Network / Spartan Sports Network, including WJIM 1240-AM and WMMQ 94.9-FM
•Records/Rankings: MSU is 8-1 and 2-0 in the Big Ten and ranked No. 3 in both major polls; Southern Utah is 5-3, 0-0 in the Big Sky Conference and unranked.
•Coaches: MSU — Tom Izzo is 550-221 in his 23rd season, all with the Spartans. Southern Utah — Todd Simon is 15-35 in his second full season as a head coach, including 11-30 with the Thunderbirds. He went 9-8 as the interim coach at UNLV in 2015-16.
•Series: This is the first meeting between these two programs
Southern Utah
Pos. | Name | PPG |
C (34) | Christian Musoko (6-8) | 7.0 |
F (10) | Jacob Calloway (6-8) | 7.4 |
G (12) | Jadon Cohee (6-4) | 18.0 |
G (14) | James McGee (6-2) | 9.9 |
G (4) | Dre Martin (5-11) | 8.7 |
MSU
Pos. | Name | PPG |
C (44) | Nick Ward (6-8) | 13.3 |
F (2) | Jaren Jackson Jr. (6-11) | 10.1 |
G (22) | Miles Bridges (6-7) | 15.4 |
G (1) | Joshua Langford (6-5) | 13.6 |
G (5) | Cassius Winston (6-0) | 12.4 |
•Southern Utah update: The Thunderbirds are one win shy of their win total for all of last season. They’ve won three straight, including most recently against a Long Beach State program that’ll visit Breslin Center later this month. Southern Utah has scored 80 or more points seven times this season and has three players averaging 14 or more points per game, two of whom come off the bench — 6-foot-6, 240-pound forward Jamal Aytes and guard Brandon Better. Southern Utah, which hosts Central Michigan next Saturday and still plays at Iowa in the non-conference season, is part of the Big West Conference with, among other teams, MSU nemesis Weber State.
•MSU update: Tom Izzo might not be thrilled with the Spartans’ defense, but it’s the best defense statistically in the country, holding opponents to just 33.2 percent shooting. MSU has held its last six opponents — including North Carolina, Notre Dame and two Big Ten foes — to an average of 54.2 points per game. Jaren Jackson’s eight blocks against Rutgers tied him for the MSU single-game record with Ken Johnson 33 years ago. Saturday night’s game is the beginning of a stretch of six non-conference games for the Spartans before stepping back into Big Ten play on Jan. 4 against Maryland.
•About the matchup: The Thunderbirds are a banged-up bunch, playing recently with three healthy perimeter players, meaning they’ve used lineups with three bigs at a time. Even so, they’ve found a groove of late. The team’s senior leader, James McGee, is questionable Saturday. If he can’t play, Southern Utah’s backcourt is ridiculously thin. Better is the team’s best long-range shooter. Cohee is a nice player, who averages about seven rebounds a game to go along with his 18 points. But he has a tough matchup on the wing with the 6-7 Miles Bridges.
MORE: Todd Simon returns home with Southern Utah, gets crack at Michigan State
•Prediction: Todd Simon’s club pushed UNLV before running out of gas and is playing its best basketball. This is another level, though. The timing isn’t great, either. MSU, which struggled offensively against Rutgers, figures to be dialed in. Nick Ward especially so.
» Make it: MSU 90, Southern Utah 68
— Graham Couch