Men’s Basketball Hosts Western Michigan Friday Night in Home Opener

Friday, November 12

East Lansing, Mich.

6:30 p.m.

Michigan State University

Western Michigan

Tyson Walker vs. Kansas in the 2021 Champions Classic on Nov. 9

Photo by: Phil Ellsworth / ESPN Images

Men’s Basketball Hosts Western Michigan Friday Night in Home Opener

11/11/2021 5:22:00 PM | Men's Basketball

East Lansing, Mich. – Michigan State's men's basketball team returns back to East Lansing for its home opener on Friday, Nov. 12 against Western Michigan (6:30 p.m., BTN).

The game will air live on BTN, with Kevin Kugler and Stephen Bardo 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 XM 390 and on channel 980 on the SiriusXM app.

About the Spartans

The Spartans opened the season with an 87-74 loss to No. 3 Kansas in the Champions Classic at Madison Square Garden in New York City … MSU had four players score in double figures, led by sophomore guard A.J. Hoggard's 17 points.
The Spartans will play five of their first seven games away from home, including at Butler in the Gavitt Tipoff Games and three games at the Battle 4 Atlantis … Michigan State was 12-3 at home last year, including a 5-0 mark against non-league teams.
Michigan State posted a pair of wins in exhibition games to start the 2021-22 season, beating Ferris State, 92-58, on October 27 and following that up with an 83-60 win over Grand Valley State on Thursday, Nov. 4.
Freshman guard Max Christie averaged 15.5 points and 3.5 rebounds while connecting on 57.9 percent of his field goals (11-of-19) to lead three players in double figures.
Senior forward Gabe Brown averaged 15.0 points and 5.0 rebounds, while hitting 58.8 percent of his shots (10-of-17), including 54.5 percent from 3-point land (6-of-11).
Redshirt senior forward Joey Hauser added 11.0 points and 7.5 rebounds and senior forward Marcus Bingham Jr. added 9.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.0 blocks in 17.0 minutes.
The Spartans return nine letterwinners from last year's team that finished 15-13 overall and 9-11 in the Big Ten and reached the NCAA Tournament for the 23rd-straight season, the second-longest active streak in Division I.

About Western Michigan

Western Michigan opened its 2021-22 season on Wednesday night, posting a 76-58 win over Hope College.
Second-year Head Coach Clayton Bates, who played on the 1996 Florida Final Four team, welcomes nine players who are playing at WMU for the first time, four incoming transfers and five true freshmen.
Junior transfer Lamar Norman Jr., who spent three seasons at Duquesne, scored 23 points – hitting 9-of-13 shots from the floor, including 5-of-8 from 3-point land – to lead the Broncos.
Western Michigan beat Kalamazoo College, 77-47, in an exhibition game last Saturday.
Freshman guard Gus Etchison scored 16 points off the bench to lead the way, while Norman Jr. added 12 points.
Among the returnees for the Broncos is sophomore guard B. Artis White, who scored 19 points and had six rebounds against MSU last year.
Also back is sophomore center Titus Wright, who had 16 points and 10 rebounds last year.

Last Meeting

Redshirt junior forward Joey Hauser had his third double-double of the season, scoring a career-high 24 points with 10 rebounds, and then-No. 8 Michigan State used a late run to pull away for a 79-61 win over Western Michigan at the Breslin Center on Dec. 6, 2020.
Forward Aaron Henry finished with 12 points, five assists and four rebounds and guard Rocket Watts added 10 points and six assists.
The Spartans led by four points (39-35) at the half and still were up four (52-48) nearing the mid-point of the second half before going on an 21-8 run over a span of 7:50, taking a 73-56 lead on a 3-pointer from Hauser, his third during the run.

Series History

Friday's matchup between Michigan State and Western Michigan will be the 39th meeting between the schools.
MSU leads the all-time series with Western Michigan, 27-11, including a 21-7 advantage in games at home.
The Spartans have won the last seven meetings with the Broncos and 10 of the last 11.
Western Michigan's last win in the series was an 83-79 decision in East Lansing on Nov. 28, 1981.