Michigan State vs. Illinois tipoff: How to watch, preview, prediction
Graham Couch
•What: Illinois at Michigan State
•When: 7 p.m. Tuesday
•Where: Breslin Center, East Lansing
•TV/Radio: ESPN/Spartan Sports Network, including WJIM 1240-AM and WMMQ 94.9-FM; Sirius/XM Ch. 84
•Records/Rankings: MSU is 26-3 overall, 14-2 in the Big Ten and ranked No. 1 in the USA Today Coaches poll and No. 2 in the AP poll. Illinois is 13-15 overall, 3-12 in the Big Ten and unranked.
•Vegas line: MSU by 17.5
•Coaches: MSU — Tom Izzo is 570-223 in his 23rd season, all with the Spartans. Illinois — Brad Underwood is 122-41 in his fifth season as a head coach. This is his first season with the Illini.
•Series: MSU leads 60-59 all-time, including a 87-74 win on Jan. 22 at Illinois.
Illinois
Pos. | Name | PPG |
F (12) | Leron Black (6-7) | 15.1 |
F (2) | Nicholas Kipper (6-6) | 9.8 |
G (24) | Mark Alstork (6-5) | 6.3 |
G (23) | Aaron Jordan (6-5) | 8.1 |
G (1) | Trent Frazier (6-1) | 12.3 |
MSU
Pos. | Name | PPG |
C (44) | Nick Ward (6-8) | 13.1 |
F (2) | Jaren Jackson Jr. (6-11) | 11.6 |
G (22) | Miles Bridges (6-7) | 17.0 |
G (1) | Joshua Langford (6-5) | 12.3 |
G (5) | Cassius Winston (6-0) | 12.3 |
•Illinois update: The Illini posted their best win of the season on Sunday, a 72-66 home victory over a Nebraska team playing for an NCAA tournament bid. Junior power forward Leron Black scored a career-high 28 points in the win. Illinois is yet to win a Big Ten road game this season. The Illini, one of four three-win teams in the Big Ten, is locked in to one of the 11-14 seeds in next week’s Big Ten tournament, meaning they’ll begin play Wednesday at Madison Square Garden in New York.
•MSU update: The Spartans are coming off the largest comeback in Big Ten history, from 27 points down to beat Northwestern on Saturday. It was MSU’s 10th straight win and puts the Spartans all alone in first place in the Big Ten standings, a game up on Ohio State and Purdue. MSU can clinch at least a share of the conference title with a win Tuesday over an Illinois team it beat by double-digits a month ago in Champaign. This is the final home game for three MSU seniors, reserves Tum Tum Nairn, Gavin Schilling and Ben Carter, and likely the last game at Breslin Center for sophomore Miles Bridges and freshman Jaren Jackson Jr., both of whom are considered lottery picks in the upcoming NBA draft
MORE: Couch: Tum Tum Nairn leads a senior class that Tom Izzo didn't want but is grateful for
•About the matchup: The last time these teams met, Jan. 22 in Champaign, MSU couldn’t miss but couldn’t hang on to the basketball — shooting 68 percent as a team, while committing 25 turnovers. The Illini’s defense is known for making opponents speed up uncomfortably, which explains some of the carelessness. Teams are also shooting almost 47 percent against Illinois, which partly explains MSU’s percentage that night. Sophomore forward Nicholas Kipper scored a career-high 27 against the Spartans last time out, hitting 5 of 8 3-pointers. He’s since been added to the starting lineup. On most nights, Illinois simply doesn’t have the offensive firepower or rim protection to stay with MSU.
•Prediction: If this were a late January game, perhaps a snowy midweek night in the middle of a long stretch, maybe MSU might sleepwalk into an upset scare against Illinois. But this is senior night, with a Big Ten title on the line, coming off a game where MSU sleepwalked through the first half. Meanwhile, Illinois just had its own satisfying big win at home. The dynamic doesn’t set up well for the Illini.
» Make it: MSU 89, Illinois 72
— Graham Couch