Michigan Basketball: How to watch, three predictions for Michigan State

Still not enough for Michigan

Cassius Winston has been the boogeyman for Michigan basketball in the past three meetings, the Wolverines just haven’t been able to stop him. In each of the games last season, U-M led by eight or more and each time, Winston led Michigan State back to victories.

If there is a better college basketball player in the Big Ten Conference right now, I’d love to find out who, because Winston is that guy in my eyes. Now, MSU is certainly beatable and this team is far from a juggernaut.

If Livers wasn’t injured, I’d hazard a guess that Michigan is the more talented team. 6-foot-8 forward Xavier Tillman will cause Michigan problems, especially without Livers to defend him. But if U-M can hold either of those guys in check, it will have a much better chance of winning.

Simpson and Teske should both play well and I have the feeling DeJulius will have some good stretches too, especially on the offensive end as well as Franz Wagner. But for some reason, I feel like this game comes down to shutting down Winston and at the end of the day, I don’t know if Michigan will be able to do that well enough to win.

Final score: Michigan State 63, Michigan 60