The Butler Bulldogs will travel to East Lansing, Michigan to face the 18^th-ranked Michigan State Spartans at the Jack Breslin Student Events Center on Friday evening with the game scheduled to start at 6:30 PM ET and will air on Fox Sports 1.

It doesn’t seem like that long ago that the Butler Bulldogs were the measuring stick for mid-majors as they made it to the National Championship game in back-to-back seasons and almost defeated Duke off a three-point shot attempted by Gordon Hayward, however, the shot rolled out of the rim and then Butler lost the next season in the 2011 NCAA Tournament to the UConn Huskies and have not made it past the Sweet 16 since that game. The Bulldogs missed the NCAA tournament last season for the 5^th consecutive season as they finished with a record of 14-18 which included a record of 6-14 in the Big East. Butler was eliminated early in the Big East Tournament as they lost to the St. John’s Red Storm in the opening round by a score of 63-76. This season, the Butler Bulldogs are projected to be the 3^rd worst team in the Big East, however, they enter this game with a record of 3-0 following wins at home against the Eastern Michigan Eagles by a score of 94-55, the SE Missouri State Redhawks by a score of 91-56, and the ETSU Buccaneers by a score of 81-47, however, they will be taking a step up in competition when they travel to face the Michigan State Spartans on Friday evening.

Michigan State had high expectations this season as they entered the season ranked 4^th in college basketball, however, they have already lost two of their first three games on the year with a loss at home against the James Madison Dukes by a score of 76-79 in overtime and the Duke Blue Devils on Tuesday in the Champions Classic by a score of 65-74. The Spartans continue to struggle shooting the ball as they are shooting 41.2% overall and have been one of the worst teams in college basketball beyond the arch as they are only shooting 16% from 3-point range. They did improve their 3-point percentage when they faced Duke as they shot 31.6% from 3-point range. Their struggles against Duke came from the line as they only had a 58.3% free throw percentage which was their season low and outside of the game against Southern Indiana they have shot below 65% this season. Their defense has been decent, however, if they are going to meet the expectations they had entering the season then they will have to shoot the ball better to win games.

BookMaker has the Michigan State Spartans listed as 8.5-point favorites at home against the Butler Bulldogs on Friday evening. The teams have split the series as both are 1-1 while also being 1-1 ATS in those meetings. The Butler Bulldogs are 3-0 ATS overall this season while the Michigan State Spartans are 0-3 ATS overall, 0-2 ATS as a favorite, and 0-2 ATS at home on the year.

Until Michigan State can show they can shoot the ball better they should be huge favorites against anyone. Butler isn’t as talented this season as they have been in the past, however, with the way the Spartans have struggled to make baskets I look for this to be a closer game than the line indicates which is why I am buying the .5 point and taking the Butler Bulldogs with the points on the road against the Michigan State Spartans on Friday evening.