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Michigan State Basketball: 2016-17 Game-By-Game Predictions

By Colton Wesley

Mar 13, 2016; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Michigan State Spartans celebrate winning the Big Ten Championship against the Purdue Boilermakers during the Big Ten conference tournament at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Michigan State defeats Purdue 66-62. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 13, 2016; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Michigan State Spartans celebrate winning the Big Ten Championship against the Purdue Boilermakers during the Big Ten conference tournament at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Michigan State defeats Purdue 66-62. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports /
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Mar 6, 2016; Evanston, IL, USA; Northwestern Wildcats players Aaron Falzon (35) , Bryant McIntosh (30) , Tre Demps (14) and Sanjay Lumpkin (34) celebrate in the second half against the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 6, 2016; Evanston, IL, USA; Northwestern Wildcats players Aaron Falzon (35) , Bryant McIntosh (30) , Tre Demps (14) and Sanjay Lumpkin (34) celebrate in the second half against the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports /

December 3 (5-3) – v. Oral Roberts

Michigan State’s long home reprieve after a grueling November begins with a visit from Oral Roberts. The Golden Eagles haven’t been to the NCAA tournament since 2008 and no longer have Obi Emegano, who scored nearly a third of their points a season ago. Michigan State wins.

December 6 (6-3) – v. Youngstown State

Cameron Morse, a Flint native who led the Penguins with 20 points a game last season, returns, but Youngstown State only won 11 games last season and routinely gave up 90 or more points. Michigan State wins.

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December 10 (7-3) – v. Tennessee Tech

The Spartans will host a Golden Eagles team for the second time in eight days when Tennesee Tech comes to town. They were invited to the first-ever Vegas 16 postseason tournament (which had only eight teams because that’s how tournaments with numbers in their names work, I guess) after last season and lost in the first round to Ohio Dominican. They scored a lot of points last year but lost their top two scorers this offseason. Michigan State wins.

December 18 (8-3) – v. Northeastern

Northeastern will need to replace about 45 points per game after the departure of their top three seniors, and they were only a middling team in the Colonial Athletic Association a year ago. Michigan State wins.

December 21 (9-3) – v. Oakland

It’s really a shame for college basketball that Kay Felder opted to declare for the draft after his junior year last season. He was one of the most fun players to watch a season ago and led a high-scoring Golden Grizzlies offense, scoring about 24 points a game. Oakland, like Tennessee Tech, was invited to the Vegas 16, where they lost to Old Dominion 68-67 in the final after an early exit from the Horizon League tournament.

If Felder were still at Oakland, this game might have been interesting. The Grizzlies might have given caught the Spartans napping after a relatively easy four-game stretch and given them a run. Unfortunately for the Grizzles, they don’t have anyone who would be able to get the kind of production needed against Michigan State at Breslin. Michigan State wins.

December 27 (10-3) – @ Minnesota

After Christmas, the Big Ten schedule finally begins for Michigan State with a road trip to Minneapolis to take on the Golden Gophers.

Minnesota’s program is trying to put itself back together after a disastrous 2015-16 season. Following the resignation of athletics director Norwood Teague after a sexual harassment scandal and other reports of sexual misconduct within the department, the Gophers went 2-16 in conference play last year under Rick Pitino’s big-spending son Richard, who has won only 26 games since leading the Gophers to the NIT title in his first season in 2013-14.

With a new athletics director in town and Pitino’s contract only guaranteed through this season, it’s likely Pitino’s last chance to prove that he’s more than Rick’s spoiled kid who inherited a pretty good team from Tubby Smith in his first year. The Gophers should improve with the addition of a couple of four-star freshmen and Milwaukee graduate transfer Akeem Spring along with the returns of leading scorer Nate Mason and promising sophomore Jordan Murphy, but Pitino is yet to prove that he can coach, and the talent gap between the Gophers and the Spartans is a large one. Michigan State wins.

December 29 (11-3, 1-0) – v. Northwestern

Northwestern has been on the outside looking in after almost making the tournament for a couple of seasons now under head coach Chris Collins. They had their first-ever 20-win season in 2015-16 but failed to win any games against top-25 opponents and are still yet to finish above .500 in conference play. Leading scorer Tre Demps is gone and even if guard Bryant McIntosh has an amazing game on the road against the Spartans, the Wildcats lack a dominant big man who can clean up the glass. Michigan State wins.

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