Michigan State Hosts No. 5 Illinois on Tuesday Night

East Lansing, Mich. – Michigan State returns home to the Breslin Center on Tuesday, Feb. 23, hosting No. 5 Illinois at 7 p.m. This the first of six games in a span of 13 days, including four games against teams ranked in the top five nationally.

The game will air live on FS1, with Kevin Kugler and Donny Marshall 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 and Internet 372.

Records
Michigan State, coming off a 78-71 win at Indiana on Saturday, is 11-9 overall and 5-9 in the Big Ten Conference, while Illinois, winners of seven-straight games, is 16-5 overall and 12-3 in league play.

About the Spartans

The Spartans feature a balanced attack, with two players scoring in double figures, five players averaging at least 5.0 points and nine players averaging at least 10 minutes per game.
Junior forward Aaron Henry leads the team in scoring (15.0 ppg) and assists (3.5 apg) and is second on the team with 5.5 rebounds, while adding 1.3 steals and 1.3 blocks per game.
He is the only Division I player averaging at least 15.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.3 blocks per game.
Redshirt junior forward Joey Hauser is second on the team in scoring with 10.2 points and leads the team with 6.4 rebounds per game.
Graduate guard Joshua Langford, who has scored in double figures in eight of the last 11 games, is third on the team with 9.8 points, while adding 2.6 rebounds and 1.8 steals
Junior forward Gabe Brown, who scored 14 points in the win at Indiana, is fourth on the team with 7.7 points and has connected on 45.8 percent of his 3-point field goals (27-of-59).
Sophomore guard Rocket Watts, who had six points and two assists in a season-high 32 minutes at Indiana on Saturday, is fifth on the team with 7.6 points and second with 3.0 assists.
Sophomore forward Malik Hall is averaging 4.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.5 assists, sophomore forward Julius Marble adds 4.2 points and 2.3 rebounds and junior guard Foster Loyer, who is out with a left shoulder injury, is averaging 4.2 points and 2.3 assists.

About Illinois

Illinois enters the game on Tuesday night with a 16-5 overall record and a 12-3 mark in the Big Ten Conference.
The Fighting Illini are coming off a 94-63 win over Minnesota on the road.
Illinois has won its last seven games and is 5-1 on the road in league play, the lone loss a 91-88 decision at Rutgers on Dec. 20.
The Illini have three players scoring in double figures, led by junior guard Ayo Dosunmu, who is scoring 21.2 points per game, which ranks second in the Big Ten.
Sophomore center Kofi Cockburn is second on the team with 17.6 points and leads the team with 10.3 rebounds, while senior guard Trent Frazier is third on the team with 10.2 points per game.

Series History

The game on Tuesday night between Michigan State and Illinois is the 124th meeting all-time.
The Spartans lead the head-to-head series, 63-60, and have won 14 of the last 21 against Illinois and 16 of the last 24.
MSU won both games last year, 76-56, on Jan. 2 at the Breslin Center, and 70-69, on Feb. 11 at Illinois.
In the last 26 games in the series, 21 games have been decided by 10 points or fewer.
Tom Izzo is 26-18 in his career against the Illini.

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Players Mentioned

Gabe Brown

Malik Hall

Joey Hauser

Aaron Henry

Joshua Langford

Foster Loyer

Rocket Watts