#9 Michigan State @ Louisville

Who will WIN this matchup?

#9 Michigan State Spartans (5-1)

@ Louisville Cardinals (3-2)

Current odds:

Michigan State Spartans: (-240)

Louisville Cardinals: (+200)

• The line for this game is Michigan State by 5.5 points.

• Michigan State looks to extend its winning streak to six games when it travels to face Louisville in an ACC/Big Ten Challenge contest Tuesday. The No. 8 Spartans are coming off a title at the Las Vegas Invitational after topping UCLA and No. 17 Texas on consecutive nights, while the Cardinals have dropped two straight, losing to No. 7 Tennessee and Marquette in overtime at the NIT Season Tip-Off in Brooklyn. Junior guard Cassius Winston runs the show for coach Tom Izzo and is coming off an MVP performance at the Las Vegas Invitational, averaging 19.5 points and 8.5 assists. Winston’s backcourt mate, fellow junior Joshua Langford, averages a team-best 18.5 points and had a career-high 29 points in the Spartans’ come-from-behind victory over Texas.

• Sophomore forward Jordan Nwora has been the top point producer for Louisville this season, averaging 18.4 points and a team-best 7.2 rebounds despite coming off the bench in every game. Coach Chris Mack uses 10 players on a regular basis, with each averaging at least 12.3 minutes, and the Cardinals are averaging 40.6 points from reserves this season.

• Senior forward Kenny Goins averages the fewest points of any of Izzo’s five starters with 6.8 per game, but he may be one of the most important players for the Spartans in many different areas. The team’s leading rebounder at nine per game, Goins is one of the better defenders on the squad, and he’ll likely get the key assignment of trying to slow down Nwora in this contest. Though he’s shooting only 28.6 percent from 3-point range, Goins has expanded his game to include a long jumper, which gives the Spartans another player to kick it out to off post-ups by forward Nick Ward or drives to the hoop by Winston or Langford.

• Louisville has been able to get to the free-throw line often this season, making 26 more free throws than its opponents have attempted. Working the ball inside could be a key factor against a Michigan State team that doesn’t feature a shot-blocker like it did in Jaren Jackson Jr. a year ago and covers the perimeter as well as any team in the country, allowing opponents to shoot 31.1 percent from 3-point range. Nwora, forward V.J. King, forward Malik Williams and center Steven Enoch are all averaging at least four trips to the free-throw line per game, and they’ll need to have that aggressiveness to get some easy points and slow down the Michigan State transition game.

• Ward became the 50th player in Michigan State history to reach the 1,000-point milestone with six points against Texas.

• Senior G Christen Cunningham had his season high with 16 points against Marquette.

• Louisville has won 49 straight home games in the month of November spanning the last 28 seasons, including 36 at the KFC Yum! Center.