Crisler Center – Ann Arbor, MI
Tip-off: Tuesday, 9:00 pm ET
Line: Michigan -4.0, Total: 138.0

Both Michigan State and Michigan will be looking to bolster their tournament resumes when the teams meet in Ann Arbor on Tuesday.

While Tuesday night’s game might be something of a rivalry, there are more important things for each of these teams to worry about. Both of these universities currently find themselves on the wrong side of the tournament bubble, and a loss on Tuesday could ultimately lock one of them out of contention. The Spartans are the team playing the better basketball of the two right now, as they have won-and-covered in two straight coming into this one. One of those wins was over this Michigan team, as the Spartans won 70-62 as three-point favorites in East Lansing on Jan. 29. It was Michigan State’s fifth straight victory (4-1 ATS) in this head-to-head series and the Wolverines also happen to be struggling coming into this one. Michigan has lost each of its past two games and also five of its past eight. One trend that sticks out when looking at this one is that the Wolverines are 0-7 ATS off an upset loss as a home favorite over the past three seasons. Michigan is, however, an impressive 14-5 ATS after two straight games where it had five or fewer steals over the past three seasons, though.

Michigan State might be having a down season, but this is a talented group that can really defend. The Spartans have the nation’s 40th most efficient defense, allowing only 97.2 points per 100 possessions. The offense is coming around as well, as the Spartans have shot better than 50.0% from the floor in three straight games and four of the past five. The guy that will need to show up offensively in this one is F Miles Bridges (16.3 PPG, 8.3 RPG, 1.7 BPG). Bridges was superb against Nebraska on Thursday, finishing with 16 points and six boards on 7-for-10 shooting from the floor and 2-for-5 shooting from three. That means that Bridges was perfect from inside the three-point line, and he’ll need to continue to play efficient basketball moving forward. Bridges was a little off against the Wolverines last game, shooting just 7-for-17 from the floor. He did, however, have 15 points, 13 boards, three steals and two blocks. The Spartans will be hoping he comes with the same energy in this one, and he’ll just need to hit a few more shots. Another guy to keep an eye on in this one is F Nick Ward (13.0 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 2.0 BPG). Ward was a perfect 6-for-6 from the floor and scored 12 points against the Wolverines last meeting. He did, however, pick up four fouls and that only allowed him to play 16 minutes. He must avoid foul trouble in this one or it’ll be tough for Michigan State to win.

Michigan is struggling right now, but the team will be amped up to play against the Spartans on Tuesday. The Wolverines had a shot to beat this same group in East Lansing two games ago, but they faltered down the stretch. They’ll now hope that their offense is ready to go in front of their home crowd. The Wolverines have shot less than 40.0% from the floor in two straight games, but this is still a very good offensive team. Michigan has the nation’s 13th most efficient offense, scoring 120.1 points per 100 possessions. G Derrick Walton Jr. (14.0 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 3.6 APG) is the team’s most dangerous player. He has scored 20 or more points in three straight games, and he had 24 points in the loss to Michigan State on Jan. 29. Walton Jr. was just 4-for-12 in that game, though. He’ll need to be more efficient this time around, but he should be at home. The Wolverines will also need a lot more from G Zak Irvin (13.3 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 3.4 APG), who was held scoreless in the loss to the Spartans last game. Irvin was 0-for-8 in that game, and he must knock down some shots in this one. If he doesn’t turn it around then the Wolverines will lose to this team once again. F Duncan Robinson (8.4 PPG) can also add a spark by hitting some threes. He is just 4-for-12 from the outside over the past two games, but he is a 40.4% three-point shooter on the season and is capable of getting hot in a hurry.