The Michigan State Spartans might have been beaten by the Purdue Boilermakers during the week, but the way they battled back in that game on the road gives us a lot of hope for them for Sunday's showdown against the Indiana Hoosiers.
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SCHEDULING
MSU is going to be the better rested team for sure coming into Sunday. Sparty will have had five days off in a row before hosting this one, while Indiana is going to have just two days to get ready for a very tough foe. The Hoosiers also have to deal with an extremely tough and physical Iowa team on Thursday night, and that could really take some of the wind out of their sails for this game on Sunday. Live bettors should most certainly be aware of the potential pitfall that is this schedule for IU.
KEY MATCHUP
Live bettors had better be ready for it to be Valentine's Day on Saturday. The lovey dovey crap can wait, though. We, of course, are talking about it being Denzel Valentine's day to shine.
Once you can get past all of the puns you're going to inevitably hear on the CBS broadcast on Sunday, you'll get to a man who is one of the best players in the nation. Valentine is a triple-double threat every time he's on the basketball court, and he really doesn't have anyone on the court to guard him.
Yogi Ferrell is too small to keep up with his size, while Troy Williams and Thomas Bryant aren't quick enough to guard him out on the perimeter in one-on-one situations and can't be taken away from the basket for rebounding purposes.
That's why we think this is the key matchup in this game. If Valentine has a field day as we know he's capable of, we just don’t see the Hoosiers being able to make much headway in this game, something that will keep live bettors coming back for more action on the boys in green and white.
KEY STATS & TRENDS
The Hoosiers clearly haven't been the same team since James Blackmon suffered a season-ending knee injury, but it's not like they don't have other offensive weapons. One man alone doesn't make a team average 84.1 points per game and shoot 51.1 percent from the field. If live bettors are going to end up cashing Indiana bets in this one, the over is probably a solid play, too, a parlay that has cashed four times already this year in Big Ten play.
Michigan State has covered four straight games, the last three of which have resulted in over games as well. The Spartans have scored in the 80s or 90s in all three games, and they've scored at least 71 points in their last seven. Five of the seven games cleared the total, many by a healthy number of points.
The Spartans have really punished their last three foes in the second halves of games, too. Sure, Michigan won the second half against MSU, but let's not forget that the Wolverines bench players outscored the Spartans 17-6 after the under 4:00 timeout after the game was long decided.
Aside from that, MSU outscored Rutgers 52-29 in the second half and Northwestern 40-21.
BookMaker offers play-by-play betting odds for live sporting events every day! The user-friendly wagering interface on your smartphone provides an easy way to place bets on the go. Mobile betting lines are updated by the minute, so click here to start gambling on thrilling live action at BookMaker Sportsbook! The matchup between the Indiana Hoosiers and Michigan State Spartans will go down Sunday, February 14, 2016 at 1:00 p.m. ET at the Jack Breslin Student Events Center. The matchup will be televised live on CBS.
