The Michigan State Spartans and the Northwestern Wildcats meet Sunday in college basketball action from Welsh-Ryan Arena. Michigan State is sitting at 10-2 so far. The Spartans beat High Point in their last game. As for Northwestern, they’re 8-2 this year and beat Illinois Springfield in their most recent appearance. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Michigan State lost their opener this year versus Kansas, then went on a five-game win streak before another loss to Baylor. Since then it’s been five more wins over Louisville, Toledo, Minnesota, Penn State, Oakland and High Point.
Matched up against High Point back on Wednesday, the Spartans were down 35-34 at halftime. Michigan State woke up in the second with 47 points on the way to an 81-68 win. Gabe Brown was the team’s leading scorer with 24 points and seven boards.
Over on the Northwestern side, they hit a 5-2 run over their first seven outings with losses to Providence and Wake Forest. The Wildcats have won their last three, beating Maryland, NJIT and Illinois Springfield during that stretch.
Back on December 20 versus Illinois Springfield, the Wildcats didn’t have much trouble. Northwestern put up 47 points in the first half on the way to a 90-50 blowout win. Pete Nance topped the team on 15 points and eight rebounds.
The Wildcats are 1-4 ATS in the last five after a straight-up win and 1-6 ATS in the last seven Sunday games. Northwestern is 1-4 ATS in the last five after a straight-up win.
Meanwhile, the Spartans are 8-3-1 ATS in their last 12 overall and 1-5 ATS in the last six Sunday games. The over is 5-0-1 in Michigan State’s last six overall.
PICK: I’m going to try Northwestern in this one. The Wildcats have been competitive all season, and they’re scoring well. Northwestern’s two losses came by a combined nine points, and they’ve hit 70 or more points in nine of 10 games this season.
As for Michigan State, they’re posting some nice offense themselves with 73 or more in each of their last six games. I like this one to be a higher-scoring and completive matchup as well, with Northwestern powering into a cover–and maybe even a win.