The Michigan State Spartans may have missed on the Big Ten title, but a bigger championship is on the line when they enter the 2015 NCAA Tournament. MSU head coach Tom Izzo knows a thing or two about making a tournament run. But the Spartans face the Georgia Bulldogs in their tournament opener, who may just have just enough size to cause an upset.
Speaking of upsets, we’ve listed the most likely teams to be upset as well as experts’ sleeper picks in the national tournament.
[sc:MarchMadness ]March Madness No. 7 Michigan State Spartans vs. No. 10 Georgia Bulldogs Preview
Where: Time Warner Cable Arena, Charlotte
When: Friday, March 20, 12:40 PM ET
Line: Michigan State Spartans (-5.5) vs. Georgia Bulldogs (+5.5); total 126.0 – view all March Madness lines
Betting on the Michigan State Spartans
The Michigan State Spartans made some noise in the Big Ten tournament. They beat three highly-touted teams in Maryland, Ohio State and Indiana to make their way to the conference tournament finals.
[sc:NCAAB240banner ]The Spartans could’ve entered the Big Dance as Big Ten tournament champions if not for a missed call that helped lead the game to overtime. Michigan State eventually walked away on the wrong end of an 80-69 decision against Wisconsin.
Expect that loss to light a fire in the Spartans’ hearts to shake things up in the national tournament. Michigan State is one of the most well rounded teams in the league. The team’s ranked in the top 100 in points per game (71.9), rebounds per game (37.7), assists per game (17.1), field goal percentage (47 percent), points allowed per game (63.4) and blocks per game (4.6).
Senior guard-forward Branden Dawson embodies the Spartans’ well-roundedness the best. He’s averaging 12.1 points, 9.1 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.5 blocks per game. Dawson played extremely well in his last visit to the national tournament in 2014. He averaged 16.3 points and 8.8 rebounds per game as the Spartans exited in the Elite Eight.
Pair up Dawson’s game with Travis Trice’s playmaking (5.2 assists per game) and Denzel Valentine’s nifty three-point shooting (42 percent) and the Spartans can hurt Georgia all across the floor.
Michigan State is 8-1 straight up in its last nine games as favorites, going 6-3 against the spread.
Betting on the Georgia Bulldogs
The Georgia Bulldogs seem to play to the level of their opposition. They lost to a couple of lowly teams such as South Carolina and Auburn, who finished with a combined 32-36 record overall. The Bulldogs also challenged top-ranked Kentucky not once but twice as they covered the spread in both games.
If Georgia is to pull off the upset against the Spartans’ excellent offense, then it’ll have to turn to its big men to dominate inside.
Marcus Thornton leads Georgia with 12.3 points per game. He’s also a strong player on the boards with 7.2 rebounds per game. Thornton could expect plenty of help from Nemanja Djurisic, who is averaging 11.1 points and five rebounds per game this season. Together, Djurisic and Thornton could dominate Michigan State’s guard-heavy lineup.
The Bulldogs also have a pair of guards capable of keeping up with Michigan State. Kenny Gaines and Charles Mann are averaging 11.6 and 10.9 points this season respectively. Gaines’ three-point shooting (he makes 37 percent from beyond the arc gives) the Bulldogs a weapon from long range. The Spartans have allowed opponents to shoot 43 percent from three-point range in their last three games.
The Bulldogs are 2-6 against 2015 NCAA Tournament teams.
Writer’s Prediction
The Spartans survive a nail-biter. Take Georgia to cover +5.5. Create a betting account now and buckle up for a wild March Madness.
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