Just one team in the Big Ten is without a conference loss and that’s No. 8 Michigan State. Tom Izzo’s Spartans host a mediocre Minnesota side on Thursday and MSU is a double-digit favorite on the Mybookie NCAAB odds.
How to Bet Minnesota at Michigan State NCAA Basketball Odds & TV Info
- When: Thursday, 9 PM ET
- Where: Breslin Center, East Lansing
- TV: ESPN2
- Live Stream: WatchESPN
- Radio: SiriusXM
- College Basketball Betting Lines: Michigan State -12 (Total 146)
Minnesota vs Michigan State Last Season
Michigan State was 2-0 vs. Minnesota last year. The teams met in the second round of the NCAA Tournament and the Spartans rolled 70-50. Xavier Tillman led MSU with 14 points. The Spartans made nine of their first 10 shots on their way to building a 20-point lead in the first 14 minutes.Minnesota managed to cut the lead to single digits briefly in the second half before Big Ten Player of the Year Cassius Winston took over. Winston had 13 points with nine assists, and the Spartans shot 57.1 percent and held a 45-19 rebounding advantage. Amir Coffey had 27 points to lead the Gophers, who were 2-for-22 from deep.
Why Bet on Minnesota?
Minnesota (8-6) beat visiting Northwestern 77-68 on Sunday. Minnesota used a 13-2 run over a three-minute span to turn an 11-7 deficit into a 20-13 lead midway through the first half. The run was keyed by consecutive three-pointers from Alihan Demir, Gabe Kalscheur and Tre’ Williams, and it helped Minnesota take a 34-25 lead to the locker room.Daniel Oturu had 19 points, 16 rebounds and five blocks in posting his ninth double-double of the season. Over his past seven games, Oturu has combined to make 61-of-92 (.663) field goals, and he’s recorded double-doubles in five of his past six games. Oturu is third nationally n rebounds per game (Big Ten: 1st), eighth in the country in blocks (Big Ten: 2nd), and 14th in field goal percentage (Big Ten: 2nd).
Points & More Points
Marcus Carr added 17 points on 10-for-10 free-throw shooting for the Gophers, who made all 19 of their shots from the foul line. It marked the first perfect effort from the stripe (minimum 12 attempts) by the Maroon and Gold since Feb. 22, 1986 when they were 12-of-12 from the line. Over their past four games, Gophers players have combined to make 75-of-81 (.926) attempts at the charity stripe, including 48-of-49 (.980) in the past two home games.Demir scored 11 points and Williams pitched in a career-best 10 points for Minnesota, which outrebounded the Wildcats 43-28. In his past four games, Demir has averaged 7.8 points and 6.8 rebounds per game.
For the fourth time this season, redshirt sophomore Marcus Carr went the distance in the Gophers’ win over Northwestern by playing all 40 minutes. It’s the fourth time this season he has played 40+ minutes, including a career-high 48 in the double-overtime loss at Purdue. Carr leads the Big Ten and ranks 15th in the country in minutes played per game (36.5).
The Gophers rank highly among the nation’s college basketball teams in several categories. As of Jan. 8, Minnesota is 19th in blocked shots per game (Big Ten: 3rd), 58th in 3-pointers made per game (Big Ten: 1st), and 32nd in assists per game (Big Ten: 3rd).
Team Stats
Offense- Total Score: 74.64
- Field Goal Percentage: 43.74
- Three-Point Percentage: 34.53
- Free Throw Percentage: 73.82
- Total Rebounds: 40.43
Defense
- Total Score: 66.14
- Field Goal Percentage: 40.75
- Three-Point Percentage: 33.20
- Free Throw Percentage: 71.01
- Total Rebounds: 33.93
Why Bet on Michigan State?
The Spartans (12-3) won their seventh in a row Sunday, 87-69 over No. 12 Michigan. MSU led from wire-to-wire, but the Wolverines pulled to within two points, 23-21, after a three-point play from Jon Teske with 10:19 to play in the first half. A 3-pointer from Gabe Brown 11 seconds later started a 7-0 run as MSU took a 30-21 lead. Michigan State improved to 11-0 when leading at the half this season.In his last home game against the rival Wolverines, senior All-American point guard Cassius Winston had a career-high 32 points and nine assists. Winston was 11 of 19 overall and 8 of 11 at the line. He had just two turnovers despite having the ball in his hands during much of his 38-minute outing. It marked his ninth game this season, and the 32nd for his career, with at least 20 points.
“It was one of the greater performances that this building has seen,” said coach Tom Izzo, who has witnessed a slew of games at Breslin Center as a head coach and assistant over the last three decades.
Some Records
Winston moved past Denzel Valentine for 11th place on the MSU all-time scoring list. He now has 1,675 career points and needs 43 points to pass Mike Robinson for 10th place all-time. Winston now has 802 career assists, trailing Mateen Cleaves by 15 for the all-time lead at MSU. He’s the first player in Big Ten history with 1,600 career points and 800 career assists.
Junior forward Xavier Tillman added 20 points, 11 rebounds and a career-high six blocked shots, while six other Spartans scored at least six points. MSU connected on 52.8 percent of its field goals (28-of-53), including 46.7 percent from 3-point land (7-of-15). The Spartans held a 43-34 advantage on the boards. MSU blocked a season-high 12 shots. It was the most since MSU blocked 14 against Indiana last year (Feb. 2, 2019).
Winston was named Big Ten Player of the Week. He leads MSU, and ranks third in the Big Ten, with 18.9 points per game, and is fourth in the league with 6.3 assists per game. In four conference games, Winston is second in the Big Ten in scoring (24.3 ppg) and third in assists (7.0 apg). Michigan State leads the country in assists per game (19.7) and ranks second in rebounds per game (43.2).
Team Stats
Offense- Total Score: 81.73
- Field Goal Percentage: 47.12
- Three-Point Percentage: 34.81
- Free Throw Percentage: 74.85
- Total Rebounds: 43.20
Defense
- Total Score: 64.07
- Field Goal Percentage: 36.89
- Three-Point Percentage: 28.12
- Free Throw Percentage: 66.42
- Total Rebounds: 32.67
Minnesota vs Michigan State 2020 College Basketball Betting Trends
- Golden Gophers are 0-5 SU in their last 5 games on the road
- Golden Gophers are 2-4 ATS in their last 6 games against an opponent in the Big Ten conference
- The total has gone OVER in 4 of Minnesota’s last 5 games played in January
- Spartans are 5-0 SU in their last 5 games at home
- Spartans are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games this season
- The total has gone UNDER in 12 of Michigan State’s last 18 games played on a Thursday
