Tuesday, January 5
East Lansing, Mich.
9 p.m.
Michigan State University
vs
Rutgers
Photo by: Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports
No. 23 Michigan State Hosts No. 15 Rutgers on Tuesday Night
1/4/2021 4:33:00 PM | Men's Basketball
East Lansing, Mich. – The No. 23-ranked Michigan State men's basketball returns home to host No. 15/14 Rutgers on Tuesday, Jan. 3 (ESPN2, 9 p.m.). After playing three of its first four Big Ten games away from home, the Spartans will play four of their next five at home.
The game will air live on ESPN2, with Dave Flemming and Jay Bilas calling all of the action. The TCF Bank Spartan Media Network radio call can be heard on one of 38 affiliates and on the web at MSUSpartans.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 195 and Internet 957.
Records
Michigan State enters the game with a 7-3 overall record and a 1-3 mark in the Big Ten after an 84-77 win at Nebraska on Saturday night. Rutgers is 7-2 overall and 3-2 in league play following a 77-75 loss at home to Iowa on Saturday.
About the Spartans
The game will air live on ESPN2, with Dave Flemming and Jay Bilas calling all of the action. The TCF Bank Spartan Media Network radio call can be heard on one of 38 affiliates and on the web at MSUSpartans.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 195 and Internet 957.
Records
Michigan State enters the game with a 7-3 overall record and a 1-3 mark in the Big Ten after an 84-77 win at Nebraska on Saturday night. Rutgers is 7-2 overall and 3-2 in league play following a 77-75 loss at home to Iowa on Saturday.
About the Spartans
- The Spartans have featured a balanced attack early in the season, with two players scoring in double figures, five players scoring at least 8.0 points, seven with at least 6.0 points and nine players averaging at least 10 minutes per game.
- Junior forward Aaron Henry, who scored a career-high 27 points in the win at Nebraska, is averaging 13.4 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 1.3 blocks and 1.6 steals per game.
- Redshirt junior forward Joey Hauser is second on the team with 13.1 points and leads the team with 7.9 rebounds ... Hauser scored a career-high 27 points against Wisconsin on Dec. 25, has four double-doubles this year, seven games in double figure scoring, two games with at least 20 points, and four games with at least 10 boards, including a career-high 16 against Notre Dame.
- Sophomore guard Rocket Watts has scored in double figures four times this season, including back-to-back games with 20+ points against Duke and Detroit Mercy ... He is third on the team with 9.8 points per game and is second on the team with 3.9 assists.
- Junior forward Gabe Brown is averaging 8.6 points and 1.8 rebounds, graduate guard Joshua Langford adds 8.6 points, 2.3 rebounds and 2.1 assists.
- Sophomore forward Malik Hall, who had his first career double-double (10 points, 10 rebounds) at Duke, is averaging 6.3 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.9 assists, junior guard Foster Loyer is averaging 6.2 points and 2.5 assists and sophomore forward Julius Marble is averaging 4.1 points and 1.7 rebounds in 6.8 minutes.
- Freshman guard A.J. Hoggard earned his first career start on Saturday at Nebraska, playing 23 minutes with four points, five assists, three rebounds and two blocks.
- Michigan State and Rutgers meet for only the 11th time in program history.
- The Spartans lead the head-to-head series, 10-0, and have won all nine meetings since Rutgers joined the Big Ten.
- The Spartans won the lone meeting last year, 77-65, in December.
- After winning the first four meetings against Rutgers by at least 20 points when the Scarlet Knights joined the Big Ten, the last five games in the series have been decided by 9.6 points, including an MSU overtime win during the 2017-18 season.
- The teams first played on Dec. 19, 1970, with MSU posting an 81-71 win to capture the team championship at the Lobo Invitational in New Mexico.
- The Scarlet Knights have four players scoring in double figures, led by junior Ron Harper Jr., who is fourth in the Big Ten in scoring with 22.1 points per game.
- Senior guard Jacob Young is second on the team with 15.7 points and leads the team with 5.2 assists.
- Junior guard Montez Mathis (15.3 ppg) and senior guard Geo Baker (10.2 ppg) are also scoring in double figures.
- Rutgers in sixth in the league in scoring offense (80.0 ppg) and ninth in the conference in scoring defense (71.6 ppg).
Players Mentioned
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