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THE OFFICIAL RUTGERS-MICHIGAN STATE PREDICTION THREAD

Michigan State 67
Rutgers 61

Legitimate possibility of losing the next three but this is the one we have the best chance to win. Have to defend the 3 much, much better than at their place.
 
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I was just looking at ticket availability. The 300 level is closed off so I'm not sure what capacity is, but I'd say at least 12,000 tickets have been sold. You have to figure at least 3/4 of that will be pro RU so I think the crowd can be a decent 6th man. That said, I think this one is a coin flip. A win keeps us on track for a 4-5 seed, and really takes the pressure off the two upcoming road games. A loss could have us leaning toward a 6-7 seed and possibly a mini losing streak. So it's a big one.
 
I don't like the fact that MSU has played a bunch of games this year at neutral sites - gives them a slight edge in being used to playing on big stages away from home, whereas our team might be a little "star struck" by playing at MSG. But I think we come to play Saturday.

Rutgers 68
MSU 62
 
Last game against MSU should inspire confidence for a win

We played pretty terrible on both ends of the court and were right in the game until the end when they pulled away in the last few minutes

We likely play much better on both ends of the court. The entire team shot horrible. No one could hit anything despite tons of good open looks. Unlikely we shoot THAT poorly again
 
I don't like the fact that MSU has played a bunch of games this year at neutral sites - gives them a slight edge in being used to playing on big stages away from home, whereas our team might be a little "star struck" by playing at MSG. But I think we come to play Saturday.

Rutgers 68
MSU 62
Honestly think going into Mackey or Breslin (or the RAC if you are an opponent) is a bigger / more intimidating stage for college basketball than a pseudo neutral game as MSG. Plus most of these players have played BTT, NCAAT, etc. not worried about this
 
Paul has his best RU game ever. 18 points, 10 assists and RU wins going away 69-58
Paul had 31/7/7 adding 4 steals against NW last year

If Paul wants to start dominating again like he did in that stretch last year, now is a good time for it with the next 3 tough games coming up
 
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Last game against MSU should inspire confidence for a win

We played pretty terrible on both ends of the court and were right in the game until the end when they pulled away in the last few minutes

We likely play much better on both ends of the court. The entire team shot horrible. No one could hit anything despite tons of good open looks. Unlikely we shoot THAT poorly again
Yeah, this is how I see it too. We were 2-17 overall from deep at Breslin, and our two best shooters (Spencer and Hyatt) went a combined 3-21 overall and just 1-11 from 3-pt range. That's just BRUTAL shooting, and I don't see it happening again.

And on the flip side, MSU shot 12-22 from deep, which was a huge outlier for them that likely won't repeat itself.
 
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If both teams shot their average from three, the last time we played them, we would have won by 5 points.

Malik Hall was out for them, when we played at MSU, but Kohler picked up a lot of his minutes and had a great game.

A good neutral site test that will serve us well in the big dance. We need to take the lead early and get the crowd amped up for us.

RU wins 70-66.
 
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Michigan State 67
Rutgers 61

Legitimate possibility of losing the next three but this is the one we have the best chance to win. Have to defend the 3 much, much better than at their place.
Totally disagree. We can beat anyone anywhere.
 
I never do this.. predict.. but in this case I will say it will be a much better game from us. Michigan State played a perfect game against us up there. They won't do that again and we will play better.

I say that because it looked like we learned from that MSU game in thenext game we played against a 3-point shooting team (forget who) who drove inside mainly to pass outside (seemingly wanting to use MSU's plan). We did NOT have 3 people reaching for the penetrator and they played him to pass and it worked out for us. We'll do that tomorrow.

Of course.. that means the inside guys.. teh big men.. might be called for blocking fouls on guys charging or fouls vs desperation shots by players in the lane with nowhere to go. And then you got the BIG ARENA vs the Jersey Mike's RAC cozy confines... the basket may take awhile to hone in on. I hope they take a TON of shooting practice that morning.
 
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