Michigan State University Athletics
Photo by: Matthew Mitchell
Michigan State Opens Big Ten Conference Play on Friday at Rutgers
11/29/2018 3:42:00 PM | Men's Basketball
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East Lansing, Mich. – Michigan State's men's basketball team hits the road for the second time this week, opening Big Ten Conference play on Friday, Nov. 30 at Rutgers. Tipoff at the Louis Brown Athletic Center is slated for 6 p.m.
On the Air
The game will air live on BTN, with Kevin Kugler calling the play-by-play and Jon Crispin serving as the color analyst. The Spartan Sports Network radio call can be heard on one of 38 affiliates and on the web at SpartanSportsNetwork.com, with Will Tieman handling the play-by-play and Matt Steigenga serving as the color analyst. The game can also be heard on Sirius 133, XM 196 and Internet 958.
Last Time Out
The Spartans had a five-game win streak end on Tuesday in an 82-78 overtime loss at Louisville in an ACC/Big Ten Challenge game … MSU, ranked No. 9 by the Associated Press and No. 8 in the USA Today Coaches poll, enter the weekend with a 5-2 overall record.
About the Spartans
On the Air
The game will air live on BTN, with Kevin Kugler calling the play-by-play and Jon Crispin serving as the color analyst. The Spartan Sports Network radio call can be heard on one of 38 affiliates and on the web at SpartanSportsNetwork.com, with Will Tieman handling the play-by-play and Matt Steigenga serving as the color analyst. The game can also be heard on Sirius 133, XM 196 and Internet 958.
Last Time Out
The Spartans had a five-game win streak end on Tuesday in an 82-78 overtime loss at Louisville in an ACC/Big Ten Challenge game … MSU, ranked No. 9 by the Associated Press and No. 8 in the USA Today Coaches poll, enter the weekend with a 5-2 overall record.
About the Spartans
- Junior guard Cassius Winston (Detroit, Mich./University of Detroit Jesuit) was named the Most Valuable Player of the Tournament and was also named the Co-Big Ten Player of the Week earlier this week.
- The junior guard was named the MVP in Las Vegas after averaging 19.5 points, 8.5 assists and 3.0 rebounds in the two wins.
- Overall this season, he is second on the team in scoring with 17.3 points per game and leads the team with 7.3 assists per game, which ranks No. 6 in the country.
- Junior guard Joshua Langford (Huntsville, Ala./Madison Academy), who was selected to the All-Tournament team in Las Vegas, leads MSU in scoring with 18.0 points per game, which is tied for third in the Big Ten … Langford is shooting 48.9 percent from the floor and 45.5 percent from 3-point land.
- Junior forward Nick Ward (Gahanna, Ohio/Lincoln), also selected to the all-tournament team in Las Vegas, is third on the team in scoring and rebounding, averaging 13.9 points and 5.7 boards per game.
- Redshirt senior Kenny Goins (Troy, Mich./Warren Mott) is seventh on the team in scoring with 5.9 points, but leads the team, ranks third in the Big 10 and No. 25 in nationally, grabbing 10.1 rebounds per game.
- Sophomore forward Xavier Tillman (Grand Rapids, Mich./GR Catholic) is sixth on the team in scoring with 6.4 points and second on the team with 7.6 rebounds.
- Redshirt junior Kyle Ahrens (Versailles, Ohio/Versailles) made his first start since the 2016-17 season on Tuesday at Louisville in place of senior guard Matt McQuaid (Duncanville, Texas/Duncanville) … He scored a career-high 15 points in a career-best 41 minutes played.
- Michigan State and Rutgers meet for only the eighth time in program history
- The Spartans lead the head-to-head series, 7-0, and have won all six meetings since Rutgers joined the Big Ten Conference
- Michigan State won a pair of games against Rutgers last year, beating the Scarlet Knights, 62-52, in New Jersey in December, and then posting a 76-72 overtime win at the Breslin Center in January
- After winning the first four meetings against Rutgers by at least 20 points, both games last year were decided by 10 points or fewer.
- Michigan State is 14-9 in Big Ten Conference openers under Head Coach Tom Izzo
- MSU won last year's Big Ten opener at home, beating Nebraska, 86-57
- The Spartans are 6-8 in Big Ten road openers under Izzo
- The last time MSU opened Big Ten Conference play on the road was on Dec. 27, 2016 at Minnesota, a 75-74 overtime win.
- Rutgers enters tonight's game with a 5-1 record following a 57-54 win at Miami on Wednesday night in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge
- The Scarlet Knights opened the season with a pair of wins over Fairleigh Dickinson and Drexel, before losing at home to St. John's, 84-65, in the Gavitt Games ... Since then, RU has won three-straight games
- Sophomore guard Geo Baker leads the team with 15.3 points and 5.2 assists, while junior forward Eugene Omoruyi is second on the team with 15.0 points and leads the team with 8.8 assists per game
- Sophomore guard Peter Kiss and junior forward Issa Thiam are tied for third on the team in scoring with 9.7 points per game ... Freshman guard Ron Harper Jr. is the team's top scorer off the bench, contributing 6.3 points in 20.0 minutes ... The starting rotation is rounded out by graduate center Shaquille Doorson, who is scoring 5.0 points and is second on the team with 7.0 rebounds
- Rutgers ranks 14th in the Big Ten in scoring offense, averaging 70.7 points per game, but ranks third in scoring defense – and No. 9 nationally – allowing only 56.5 points per game ... The Scarlet Knights have allowed only one opponent (St. John's) to score more than 70 points ... RU also ranks 17th nationally in field goal percentage defense (36.9%).
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