Michigan State Faces No. 2 Gonzaga in Armed Forces Classic on Friday

East Lansing, Mich. – Michigan State's men's basketball team plays No. 2 Gonzaga in the 2022 Armed Forces Classic – Carrier Edition aboard the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln on Veterans Day (11/11/22). This game between two of the nation's elite programs will serve to honor the troops of the United States military. Both programs will specially designed camouflage uniforms to further honor the military.

The game will air live on ESPN, with Dan Shulman 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 Nation's Toughest November

Like they did at the start of the 2016-17 season, Michigan State will begin the 2022-23 season with arguably one of the toughest opening months in college basketball.
In 2016-17, the Spartans faced No. 1 Duke, No. 2 Kentucky and No. 10 Arizona ... This year, the Spartans will face four teams ranked in the preseason AP Top 25.
Since 2009-10, Michigan State is one of only six teams (including that 2016- 17 team) to play at least four AP ranked opponents in the month of November.
Michigan State is the ONLY team to play two teams in the top 4, with No. 2 Gonzaga on Friday and No. 4 Kentucky on Tuesday in the Champions Classic in Indianapolis (credit: Sportsradar).

About the Spartans

The Spartans return nine letterwinners from last year's team that finished 23-13 overall and 11-9 in the Big Ten and reached the NCAA Tournament for the 24th-straight season ... That sits as the second-longest active streak in Division I, tied for the third-longest in NCAA history and the longest streak in Big Ten history.
Head Coach Tom Izzo welcomes back five players who started at least one game last year, and a trio of seniors – forwards Malik Hall and Joey Hauser and guard Tyson Walker – who have combined to play 278 games and started 177 games in their careers.
Hall was one of 11 players selected to the Preseason All-Big Ten men's basketball team on Oct. 6 ... This is the second career All-Big Ten honor for Hall, who was an honorable mention selection for his performance during the 2021-22 season ... Hall is among the most experienced players on the MSU roster entering the 2022-23, with 95 career games played as a Spartan ... He has a career average of 6.3 points and 4.2 rebounds.
Hall is expected to be joined in the starting lineup by graduate forward Hauser, who enters his third year at MSU ...The 6-9 forward averaged 7.3 points and 5.3 rebounds last year in 22.2 minutes per game.
Walker appeared in all 36 games last year, starting 28 times and finishing third on the team in minutes played (22.6 mpg) ... He was fifth on the team in scoring with 8.2 points per game and second on the team with 4.3 assists per game.
Also back for the Spartans is junior guard A.J. Hoggard, who started eight games last year and finished the season averaging 7.0 points, 2.3 rebounds and led the team with 4.8 assists in 20.3 minutes per game ... He was ranked No. 1 in the country per kenpom.com in assist rate (46.0 percent).
Sophomore guards Jaden Akins and Pierre Brooks II, along with junior center Mady Sissoko, are expected to play significant minutes this season ... Akins, who is recovering from surgery in the off-season, averaged 3.4 points and 2.4 rebounds last year.
The Spartans welcome four freshmen to the 2022-23 team ... The freshmen class includes a group of players expected to make contributions immediately: forward Jaxon Kohler, guard Tre Holloman and center Carson Cooper, as well as walk-on guard Nick Sanders.

Hauser's Double-Double Leads Michigan State Past Northern Arizona in Season Opener

Graduate forward Joey Hauser had a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds and sophomore guard Pierre Brooks added 14 points off the bench as Michigan State opened its 2022-23 season with a 73-55 win over Northern Arizona at the Breslin Center Monday night.
It was the seventh career-double for Hauser, who was 6-of-12 from the floor, including 4-of-8 from 3-point land.
Brooks scored 14 points off the bench to lead the Spartan bench, who received 27 points from their reserves.
Junior guard A.J Hoggard added nine points and eight assists, while freshman forward Jaxon Kohler chipped in with six points and nine rebounds..

About Gonzaga

Gonzaga opened the season on Monday night with a 104-63 win over North Florida at home ... UNF took a 10-8 early lead, but Gonzaga went on a 26-0 run and never looked back ... Drew Timme scored 22 points to lead the way, while Julian Strawther added 16 points and six players scored in double figures.
The Zags are No. 2 in the Associated Press preseason poll entering the year ...Gonzaga has been in the Top 10 for a national-best 81 straight polls, and in the Top 5 for 50 consecutive polls.
Timme was named the CBS Sports Preseason National Player of the Year and to the NABC Player of the Year Preseason Watch List ... He was also tabbed Preseason All-American First Team by the Associated Press.
Last season, the Zags advanced to their seventh straight Sweet 16 and finished at 28-4 ... Gonzaga won the West Coast Conference regular season title for a national-best 10th straight season.
Gonzaga returns three starters and nine letterwinners from last season's squad that claimed the Zags' 25th WCC regular season title and 20th WCC Tournament title.
In 2021-22, the Bulldogs advanced to their 23rd straight NCAA Tournament, and won their opening round game for the 13th straight season.

Series History

Michigan State leads the head-to-head series with Gonzaga, 4-1, and has won the last two meetings.
The Spartans are 2-0 at home, 1-0 on the road and 1-1 in neutral site matchups with the Zags.
Four of the five meetings between the teams have been decided by 10 points or fewer.
Michigan State won the last meeting between the teams, 74-67, on the road on Dec. 10, 2011.
Gonzaga's last win was a triple overtime win, 106-103, on Nov. 22, 2005 at the Maui Invitational in Hawaii.

MSU Against the West Coast Conference

The Spartans have an all-time record of 17-7 against teams from the WCC ... They have played every team in the league except Saint Mary's (Calif.).
MSU's last win against a team from the West Coast Conference was a 79-52 win over Santa 2008.

Michigan State Faces No. 2 Gonzaga in Armed Forces Classic on Friday

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