Tennessee Tech @ Michigan St. preview

Last Meeting ( Dec 10, 2016 ) Tennessee Tech 63, Michigan St 71

Michigan State looks for a third straight home victory when it hosts Tennessee Tech in a non-conference contest Sunday. The No. 10 Spartans are coming off an 80-59 victory over Louisiana Monroe on Wednesday while the Golden Eagles were blown out by No. 7 North Carolina 108-58 on Friday.

Tennessee Tech is led in scoring by 6-9 junior center Micaiah Henry, who is averaging 16.5 points while shooting 75.7 percent from the field. Senior forward Courtney Alexander II paces the Golden Eagles in rebounding (9.3) and assists (4.7) while scoring 10.5 points. Michigan State is led by junior guards Joshua Langford (17.3 points) and Cassius Winston (16.7, 7.3 assists, 2.7 steals), both of whom will need to be more aggressive if junior forward Nick Ward (12.7 points) can't go after suffering a sprained ankle in the team's last outing. Senior forward Kenny Goins has stepped forward this season, averaging nearly a double-double (9.7 points, 10.3 rebounds) and expanding his shooting range out to the 3-point line.

TV: 6 p.m. ET, Big Ten Network

ABOUT TENNESSEE TECH (0-4): One big problem for the Golden Eagles this season has been rebounding as the team is a minus-13.3 per game through four contests. Coach Steve Payne's team has been hurt by its opponents' 16.5 offensive rebounds per game, which has led to 17.7 second-chance points. Alexander and Henry are grabbing 16.1 of the team's 34.2 rebounds, so Payne is looking for more of a commitment from everyone to get to the glass.

ABOUT MICHIGAN STATE (2-1): Langford and Winston's aggressiveness is a key to the Michigan State offense, especially with the team's best low-post threat, Ward, on the bench. That was shown against ULM, with the Spartans leading by only six at halftime before Winston led an 18-4 run that blew the game open by scoring 14 of his 23 points during that span. Langford is also adept at shooting from beyond the arc, tying Winston for the team lead with seven 3s this season.

TIP-INS

1. Michigan State is 65-0 under coach Tom Izzo in games played at home in November.

2. The Spartans got a season-high 31 bench points against ULM, led by Xavier Tillman's career-high 11, which combined with his career-best 13 rebounds gave him his first double-double.

3. Goins recorded a career-high 15 rebounds against ULM.

PREDICTION: Michigan State 90, Tennessee Tech 58