No. 25 Michigan State Plays at Nebraska Thursday Night

East Lansing, Mich. – Michigan State's men's basketball team hits the road for the fourth time this month and the seventh time in its last 10 games, playing at Nebraska on Thursday, Feb. 20. Tipoff is slated for 8:30 p.m. (ET).

The game will air live on FS1, with Kevin Kugler and Bill Raftery calling all of the action. 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 195, XM 206 and Internet 957.

Records
Michigan State, ranked No. 25 in the USA Today Coaches poll, enters Thursday's game with a 17-9 overall record and a 9-6 mark in the Big Ten Conference. Nebraska enters with a 7-18 overall record, including a 2-12 mark in league play.

About the Spartans

Senior guard Cassius Winston (Detroit, Mich./University of Detroit Jesuit) leads MSU, and ranks third in the Big Ten, in scoring, averaging 18.2 points per game … Winston is also fourth in the league in assists (5.7 apg), first in free throw percentage, connecting on 86.2 percent of his shots (94-of-109), 10th in field goal percentage (42.2%) and third in 3-point percentage (38.6%).
Junior forward Xavier Tillman (Grand Rapids, Mich./GR Christian) is second on the team with 13.7 points per game (12th in the Big Ten) and tops the team (3rd in the Big Ten) with 10.3 rebounds per game, while adding 3.0 assists (T14th in the Big Ten) per game and 2.1 blocks per game (T4th in the Big Ten).
Tillman is the only Division I player averaging at least 13.0 points, 10.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.0 blocks per game.
Sophomore forward Aaron Henry (Indianapolis, Ind./Ben Davis) is third on the team with 9.5 points per game, while adding 4.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists.
MSU has four other players averaging at least 4.0 points per game, led by freshman guard Rocket Watts (Detroit, Mich./SPIRE Academy [Ohio] … Watts scored a career-high 21 points at Illinois and is averaging 7.7 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.7 assists.
Sophomore forward Gabe Brown (Ypsilanti, Mich./Belleville) is fifth on the team with 7.2 points per game, while adding 3.8 rebounds.
Freshman forward Malik Hall (Aurora, Ill./Sunrise Christian Academy [Kan.]), who has started the last six games, is averaging 4.5 points and 3.4 rebounds, and sophomore forward Marcus Bingham Jr. (Grand Rapids, Mich./GR Catholic Central) is averaging 4.0 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.5 blocks.

Father & Son Matchup

Thursday night's game provides a unique matchup as Spartans redshirt sophomore guard Jack Hoiberg (Burr Ridge, Ill./Hinsdale Central) and his teammates face the Cornhuskers, coached by his father, Fred Hoiberg.
The younger Hoiberg said his mother, brothers, all four of his grandparents and some aunts and uncles plan to be at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
His father was born in Lincoln and his grandfather coached there.

About Nebraska

The Cornhuskers, coming off an 81-64 loss to Wisconsin on Saturday, have lost 10-straight games.
Redshirt senior Haanif Cheatham leads the team in scoring with 12.4 points per game.
He is tied for the team lead with sophomore guard Cam Mack, who has 12.4 points per game and is third in the Big Ten in assists, averaging 6.6 per game.
Junior guard Dachon Burke is scoring 11.4 points per game.
Junior guard Thorir Thorbjarnarson leads the team with 42 3-pointers and is one of seven players with at least 20 shot from long distance.

Series History

Michigan State leads the all-time series with Nebraska, 16-9.
MSU has won eight of 11 meetings as Big Ten foes, including two games last year.
Tom Izzo holds an 8-3 series advantage against the Cornhuskers.
This will be his first matchup head-to-head against Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg.

Last Year with Nebraska

The Spartans swept a pair of games last year, beating Nebraska, 70-64, on Jan. 17 in Lincoln, and followed that up with a 91-76 win on March 5.
In the first meeting, Winston scored a then-career-high 29 points and MSU hit nine free throws in the final minute to hang on for a 70-64 win.
Nick Ward had his second-straight double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Kenny Goins added seven points and a game-high 11 rebounds.
In the second meeting, the Spartans took a 47-29 lead at halftime en route to a 91-76 win at the Breslin Center.
Goins scored a career-high 24 points and hit six 3-pointers and Matt McQuaid scored 22 points as four players scored in double figures.
Aaron Henry had 15 points and five rebounds, Xavier Tillman added 11 points and eight rebounds and Winston had eight points and 10 assists.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Marcus Bingham Jr.

Gabe Brown

Kenny Goins

Malik Hall

Aaron Henry

Jack Hoiberg

Matt McQuaid

Xavier Tillman Sr.

Nick Ward

Rocket Watts

Cassius Winston