Spartan Preview

 On the banks of Red Cedar...that's where BG is headed on Saturday to battle the Michigan State Spartans.

You know about these guys.  Twenty-six straight NCAA appearances, 37 in total.  Fourteen Elite Eights and 21 Sweet Sixteens.  Ten Final fours, 3 finals, two titles.

There are 16 regular season Big Ten Championships and 6 tournament titles.

Since Magic Johnson walked onto campus, MSU has been a dominant NCAA team.

They aren't at the high point right now, to be sure.  They have non-winning records in two of the last four seasons. They have not finished in a ranked position in any of those four years.

Part of the issue is that Izzo doesn't want to get guys out of the portal.  Even when he picked up 2 this year, they were non-G4 players, because he doesn't want to upset the players who are already there.

The teams have played 14 times, and BG has won 3.  One of those (1989) was @MSU...and the next year BG beat them at Anderson Arena in one of the building's most memorable games. Since then, the Spartans have won 5 straight.

They were picked #6 in the Big Ten by Blue Ribbon and #5 in the official poll. They are 2-1 on the season, with easy wins over Monmouth and Niagara and then an 8-point loss to Kansas this week.  Their current kenpom ranking is #34.

Both Kenpom and ESPN give them a 98% chance of winning the game on Saturday.

Jaxon Kohler leads them on the stat sheets, averaging a 12.2 and 10.3 double double in 19 minutes off the bench.  Shoots 48% from the field.

Next is Jaden Akins, a 6'4" G.  He's scoring 11.7 on 45% shooting overall.  

Frankie Filder is one of those transfers, a 6'7" All-Summit player from Omaha.  He scores an incredibly inefficient 11.7 on 31% overall shooting.  He has made 17 of 20 from the line.

Freshman Jase Richardson scores 10 a game shooting 65% coming off the bench.

R-RF Jeremy Fears has 22 assists over 5 turnovers in 3 games.

One note:  They have been terrible from distance.  They try only 30% from 3FG and are #347 in the country at making them (20%).  As expected, they play good defense, at #11 in the country (.92 per possession).