Minnesota vs Michigan State Prediction College Basketball Picks 3/14/24

Michigan State (18-13) vs Minnesota (18-13)

Game Info: Thursday, March 14, 2024 at 12:00 pm (Target Center)

Betting Odds: Michigan State Spartans -7 -- Over/Under: 137 Click Here for the Latest Odds

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The Minnesota Golden Gophers and the Michigan State Spartans meet Thursday in Big Ten Tournament college basketball action from Target Center. Let’s get into our Minnesota vs. Michigan State prediction. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Pick Dawgz.

Minnesota Golden Gophers

The Gophers were sitting at 12-7 after 19 games this year, but then won five of the next seven. Those wins were over Penn State, Northwestern, Michigan State, Rutgers and Ohio State. Since then it’s been a 1-4 run with losses to Nebraska, Illinois, Indiana and Northwestern.

Matched up against Northwestern on Saturday, the Gophers went into halftime with a 53-41 deficit. Minnesota fell further behind in the second half on a 37-25 run and ended up falling 90-66. Dawson Garcia put up 30 points with nine rebounds to lead the team in the losing effort.

Michigan State Spartans

Over on the Spartans’ side, they managed a 17-9 run over their first 26 games. That included an 8-2 stretch in January/February. Michigan State is also 1-4 in their last five outings, with a win over Northwestern among losses to Iowa, Ohio State, Purdue and Indiana during that time.

Over the weekend in the Indiana matchup, the Spartans were within five points at halftime. Michigan State hit a 35-31 advantage the rest of the way in a tough 65-64 loss. Tyson Walker was the team’s leading scorer on 30 points with three steals, three assists and a pair of rebounds.

ANDREW’S FREE MINNESOTA VS MICHIGAN STATE PREDICTION

I’ll lean toward Michigan State. You could probably make a case either way as both teams are struggling right now, but the Spartans have been a bit more competitive. Michigan State nearly finished off a comeback versus Indiana in their last outing. The 38.5 percent shooting and 39-33 rebounding deficit didn’t help matters, though. The Spartans have lost four of the last five, however each of those defeats came by seven points or fewer.

Michigan State took a 59-56 road loss the last time these teams saw each other on February 6. The Spartans didn’t rebound particularly well in that one (a 31-28 deficit) and only made seven of 17 free throws (41.2 percent). This rematch could go a lot of different ways, but it should be a competitive, reasonably close finish regardless.