Las Vegas Dice

Michigan St at Minnesota
When: 8:30 PM ET, Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Where: Williams Arena, Minneapolis, Minnesota

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THE STORY: After a stretch in which No. 6 Michigan State dropped three of five games to end January, it hasn’t lost since. The Spartans, who lost those three contests on the road by a combined nine points, have rolled to five straight double-digit victories in February – including three against ranked teams – by getting back to coach Tom Izzo’s usual trademarks, rebounding and defense. While Minnesota is fourth in the Big Ten in field goal percentage, the Spartans’ hard-nosed defensive approach could rattle the turnover-prone Golden Gophers, who commit a conference-worst 14.3 turnovers per game.

TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, Big Ten Network

ABOUT MICHIGAN STATE (22-5, 11-3 Big Ten): During their five-game winning streak, the Spartans are enjoying a plus-11 advantage in rebounding and are holding opponents to 34.3 percent shooting. In Sunday’s win at Purdue, Michigan State forced the Boilermakers to miss 22 of their first 23 field-goal attempts in the second half after Purdue shot 46.7 percent in the first half. Back-to-back Big Ten Player of the Week honoree Draymond Green leads the conference with 15 double-doubles and has been impressive in February, averaging 17.8 points, 11.4 rebounds and 4.6 assists – all slight increases over his totals entering the month.

ABOUT MINNESOTA (17-10, 5-9 Big Ten): Despite their three-game slide, the Gophers have been able to count on a couple of key facets all season – their ability to block shots and the 3-point shooting of Julian Welch. Minnesota has led the conference in blocks each of the past three seasons and is doing it again, averaging 5.1 this campaign. Welch is shooting a team-best 44.3 percent beyond the arc – fifth best in the Big Ten – and is coming off a season-high 21-point outing in Saturday’s setback at Northwestern.

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1. Since allowing Northwestern and Illinois to shoot 50 percent from the field in consecutive losses last month, Michigan State has held eight straight opponents under 40 percent.

2. Ralph Sampson III needs 16 points to become the fifth Gopher in school history with 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 150 blocks

3. Green, who is 15 rebounds shy of becoming the fourth Spartan to hit the 1,000-rebound plateau, is also on pace to become the first player from a power-six conference since Tim Duncan in 1996-97 to average 15 points, 10 rebounds and three assists.

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