Mississippi State vs. Michigan State PREDICTION | 2024 NCAA Tournament Predictions

Chris Lee, Blake Lovell, and Max Barr preview Mississippi State vs. Michigan State on March 21 in the West Region in First Round action at Spectrum Center in Charlotte.

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[YTSparty]

A few issues with what was said. First, Mich St also had an injury at the beginning of the season. Kohler was out for a couple months. The #5 ranking was largely based on the recruiting class. Izzo red-shirted one of his freshman, Jeremy Fears got shot in the leg and the 12' center Booker has come along slowly.

I disagree that this game will be won at the net. If that were the case, I'd agree Miss State would win in a landslide. And MSU isn't that tough, this is one of Izzo's softest teams that isn't great at rebounding. If you want to watch a game that will be similar to this game, go watch Mich St @ Illinois. The refs barely blew the whistle despite essentially guys being thrown to the ground. Illinois kind of reminds me of Miss State, a lot of big men. And they took to Mich St at the net. I think Illinois is a better team than Miss State at least they shoot better. But Mich St is vulnerable in the paint, but Izzo can win despite this.

That said, don't assume Mich State is a poor 3-pt team. They are the 3rd best shooting 3-pt team in the B1G. And the 12' center Booker is also good at 3's. Like you said, last year they were #1 in 3-pt shooting in the nation and the only one they're missing is Hauser. If Miss State collapses at the basket and allows the kick back for open 3's....if Mich St is hot, it could be a long night for Miss St. Look at the boxscore for the Nebraska game, MSU shot 8-17 on 3s for 24 points. MSU is a good perimeter shooting team, they just don't shoot a lot of 3s. If Booker and Hall are on the floor, they legitimately have 5 guys who can hit a 3.

Also, don't assume Mich St can't get you in foul trouble. Watch the most recent Minnesota game. Mich St went at Minnesota's big men and put their 3 top scorers with 4-4-3 fouls.

Also, Mich State is a fast break transition team. So if you are turning the ball over, those are quick easy points for Mich St, . Also I noticed Auburn pushing the ball with a lot of success against Miss St. Mich St is better at transition than half court. so don't expect a slow-grind game necessarily. If Miss St isn't getting back, again quick easy points. Not to mention it may tire Miss St out as their bench is short.

It's hard to say what will happen. The reason MSU has lost several of their last games was due to Tyson Walker being hurt. And as Izzo says, Walker is the straw that stirs the drink.

Mich St goes into shooting slumps and I noticed that happened with Tennesse against Miss St. I mean UTenn lead in practically all stats but shooting percentage. So that is a concern. MSU has had slow starts that put them behind early.

Mich St has one of the better defenses in the country. And that's kept them in games when they just couldn't hit a shot to save their lives.

Then you have games like the Baylor game where they came out on fire and brutalized a top team in the country.

If Mich St is playing their A game, I think they win easily. They just have too many advantages over Miss St. That said, if Mich St isn't playing their A-Game Miss St is the kind of team that could make them pay.

[flash]

Sorry Max. Mississippi was just beat, tromped, by a team that Max thinks shouldn’t be in the tournament. Stats don’t play games, coaches and players do.

[DrewStaczek]

Max is a hater. He referenced last years tourney team but said we (Michigan State) shot the three well. 5/14 vs USC and 2/16 vs Marquette is not well. In fact the game we lost they shot 13-25.

Guards win in March. Hoggard, Walker, Akins going to carry this team just like they did last year.

I guess we can reference this comment Thursday at 3:00pm and see how it went.

[obijuan-kenobi]

Great discussion guys! As a Michigan State fan I'm terrified of the matchup inside, as our bigs have been a massive disapointment all year. But I think on both ends of the court there are spots for our guards to take over the game, via turnovers and quick baskets before Miss St can set up their half court defense. Should be a fun grind it out game. Hoping that Izzo has some March magic left. This team will need it to make any kind of run. Go Green!

[PlasticMachines]

Max = ha ha ha. Non-tourney worthy Spartans crushed your SEC MSU - never even close. And Smith did nothing. They crushed your heart as well. Sorry, not sorry.

[masonwilliams]

Came back to way too many deleted comments😂😂😂 stick to football fellas. Mississippi State shouldn’t have been in the tournament… and they’re not!!!

[nickyboy]

This max guy just disrespected the hell out of Malik hall and msu

[MkMk-gdxr]

Nice recap.

Michigan state wins this game, they win games consistently against teams that don’t take care of the ball.
This might even be a blow out.

[sergeantsofty]

Max eat those words, this bad MSU team will beat that bad MSU team.

[MkMk-gdxr]

Max just didn’t know, this was a dream draw for Michigan State.

[coltsforsuperbowllvii]

Oh Jesus, kiss of death is not allowed for NCAA Tournament

[xmenify]

Mississippi state is great and plays the best teams in the sec league. Same bull shit every analyst say lol 😂. Michigan state did play Tennessee, Arizona, Baylor, illinois, Purdue, James Madison, Wisconsin, butler and Indiana state, and northwestern
, and Oakland lol . We have played so many teams that are in the tourney . The biggest issue with Michgian state we can not rebound or shoot 3s on consistent basis . All the shots are rushed with little time . Akins needs to pick better shots and if he doesn’t make at least 2 after 4 shots then he needs to focus on creating points in the paint . Malik needs to come and play as an experience senior . Walker will come play as it could be his last game at Michgian state. Go Green !

[hiltonladner]

Come on rutgers was in their backyard!!

[angrytater]

Miss St frontcourt out-muscles Mich St. It will be close, but the Bulldogs take this.

[sharonwilliams]

Max heart must need surgery. A bunch of mouth vomit just to lose 😂

[stuarttaylor]

Mississippi state will wear them down. Go Dawgs

[flash]

could have, should have -MSU not being in the Tournament team is understandable statement, however, does not make sense based on the criteria whereby teams are selected. MSU last game was a minute within beating Purdue AT PURDUE. Do you think Mississippi State would do that? MSU is in much because of the reasons they are a highly competitive team again top teams. What is weird, this year, is their lack of being a strong homecourt team and clutch game closeouts. IF - life is full of IFs -Tyson Walker gets on fire, or Malik Hall, hard for any team to win against MSU; especially if Akens hits his share or more of three pointers. The game is up for grabs. MSU has the experience edge which is a real edge. .

[xiaochief]

I legitimately did not know Mississippi state had a relevant basketball program, feels like they haven't been to the second weekend in decades. So I'll go with sparty on this one purely based on experience of the players / coach. The bigs are a terrible match up for state, but giving Izzo few days to prepare usually doesn't bode well for a non-relevant program

[mikerose]

SEC teams usually flame out early in NCAA Tournament