Michigan State basketball vs Northwestern game score prediction

EAST LANSING – Another quick turnaround awaits Michigan State basketball.

Thankfully for Tom Izzo and his team, this time around doesn’t require any travel. But just three days after beating USC, the 13th-ranked Spartans get back to it at Breslin Center when they host Northwestern on Thursday, Jan. 8.

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That 6:30 p.m. tipoff (BTN) comes not even a week after MSU (13-2, 3-1) dropped its first Big Ten game Friday at Nebraska late, took an overnight flight home and summarily dismantled the Trojans two days later, 80-51, on Monday night.

“I’m always concerned about it, but I didn’t see any fatigue or anything now,” Izzo said after practice Tuesday.

On the plus side for the Spartans, facing the Wildcats – who have not played since Saturday – comes in the middle of a three-game homestand, and they get four days to prepare for Indiana on Jan. 13. Then comes one of the most grueling travel portions of MSU’s schedule, with a two-game West Coast swing at Washington and Oregon, with a quick stopover at home to face Maryland followed by an East Coast jaunt to Rutgers. All before hosting No. 1 Michigan on Jan. 30.

“What happens when you coach, if we have the quick turnaround and we don’t win, then I’m gonna tell you that it was the quick turnaround,” Izzo said. And if we have a long turnaround like (the Wildcats) and we lose, then I’m gonna say we got stale and we practiced too much.

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“It’s win, or there’s something wrong. That’s for me, not you. But I think this time of the year, coming right out of Christmas, I don’t think they’re gonna be fatigued like they would be in something like this in February. I think.”

Point of emphasis vs Northwestern

Michigan State’s Divine Ugochukwu, right, moves the ball as USC’s Jordan Marsh defends during the first half on Monday, Jan. 5, 2026, at the Breslin Center in East Lansing.

There remains no question this team runs through Jeremy Fears Jr., but the point guard minute distribution remains…

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Publish date : 2026-01-08 10:12:00

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