Patience has become a virtue for Michigan State. The No. 10-ranked Spartans are in the thick of another Big Ten Title race on the backs of elite player development. Senior forward Jaxon Kohler has transformed into an All-Conference-caliber big man and is playing the best basketball of his life. Redshirt-sophomore point guard Jeremy Fears Jr. and senior center Carson Cooper are also massive player-development wins for Tom Izzo.

Kohler, Fears and Cooper are at the epicenter of Michigan State’s glitzy 17-2 record, including a 7-1 mark in Big Ten play. Michigan State is fresh off a 2-0 West Coast roadtrip, but that body-clock adjustment is always a concern for coaches. Four days should be enough to get back up to speed, but it’s a factor entering Saturday’s action. 

If Michigan State wants to put another Big Ten Championship banner on the board, it has to avoid a letdown against a wounded, undermanned Maryland squad. The Terps (8-11, 1-7 in Big Ten play) will still not have star big man Pharrel Payne, who is still on the mend after a gruesome knee injury suffered against Michigan last month. Payne is not expected to play this season, but the brutal Big Ten bouts keep coming for first-year Maryland coach Buzz Williams.

Where to watch Michigan State vs. Maryland live

Date: Saturday, Jan. 24 | Time: 12 p.m. ET
Location: Breslin Center — East Lansing, Michigan
TV: CBS | Live stream: CBSSports.com, CBS Sports App
Streaming on Paramount+ Premium    

Michigan State vs. Maryland: Need to knows

Jeremy Fears Jr. versus Diggy Coit: Coit has been one of the top isolation scorers in the country, and he dropped 43 (!) points on Penn State last Sunday. The 5-foot-11 assassin has the speed and craftiness to get to his pull-up jumper whenever he wants, but Michigan State’s team defense is excellent. The Spartans load up the gaps and limit driving lines as well as any team in the league, but this is also another opportunity for Jeremy Fears Jr. to add to his Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year resume. 

How will Michigan State navigate the Terps’ zone? Maryland has been playing a lot of zone lately. The results haven’t been great, but Williams might not have much of a choice in this matchup. Oregon and Duke have used zone defense to gum up the game and frustrate this Michigan State halfcourt offense. Maryland’s zone defense isn’t that good, but it does coax a trey at a 58% clip. Michigan State has a couple capable shooters, but that’s not the name of the game for the Spartans, especially when Coen Carr, Jeremy Fears Jr. and Carson Cooper are on the floor together. Michigan State has to find better solutions against zone defenses, but I could easily see Fears still getting into the teeth of the defense and that’s when Michigan State gets so scary.

Maryland’s transition defense will be strained: Relentless offensive rebounding is a tenet of Buzz Ball. Maryland will send four to the offensive glass at times, but that leaves its transition defense in some bad spots. Michigan State is an elite rebounding team and equally as dominant in transition. Maryland cannot be reckless, or we will have a Flying Carr sighting at the Breslin. 

Michigan State vs. Maryland prediction, picks

You aren’t going to out-physical Michigan State, but Maryland certainly will try. Even without Pharrel Payne, Maryland has the athletes to match Michigan State’s frontcourt thumpers. Solomon Washington and Elijah Saunders are weight-room warriors who will not be overwhelmed by Michigan State’s awesome frontcourt duo of Jaxon Kohler and Carson Cooper. Michigan State has schematic edges all over the place because Maryland’s offense goes haywire when Coit isn’t Coit-ing, but the Terps have the athleticism to not get totally abused on the glass and stay inside this hefty spread. Pick: Maryland +18.5

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