No. 19 Michigan State Hosts No. 12 Illinois on Saturday at Noon

East Lansing, Mich. – Michigan State returns home to the Breslin Center on Saturday, Feb. 19, hosting No. 12 Illinois (noon, ESPN). The Spartans will play three games at home and three on the road over the final six games of the regular season.

The game will air live on ESPN, with Dave Pasch and Jay Williams 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 135, XM 195 and channel 957 on the SiriusXM app.

About the Spartans

Michigan State enters the game on Saturday with an 18-7 overall record (9-5 Big Ten).
The Spartans are ranked #19 in the Associated Press and the ESPN Coaches polls ... MSU is #27 in the NET Rankings (#26 in Strength of Schedule) and #23 in the Basketball Power Index ... MSU is #23 in the country by KenPom.
The Spartans are 10-2 at home, including a 5-2 record against Big Ten teams.
The Spartans have been led this year by a stingy defense, which ranks among the leaders in the Big Ten in field goal percentage defense (No. 2, 40.3%), 3-point field goal percentage defense (No. 1, 30.2%), rebounding margin (No. 4, +5.96 rpg) and blocked shots (No. 1, 5.60 bpg).
Senior forward Gabe Brown is one of two players scoring in double figures and one of eight players averaging at least 5.0 points per game ... Brown leads the team with 12.1 ppg, while adding 4.3 rebounds and leads the team in 3-pointers made with 51.
Junior forward Malik Hall is second on the team in scoring with 10.2 ppg, while adding 4.9 rpg and 1.2 apg ... He is averaging 10.4 ppg and 5.3 rpg in Big Ten games.
Freshman guard Max Christie is tied for third on the team with 9.8 points and has been named Big Ten Freshman of the Week five times.
Senior forward Marcus Bingham Jr. is averaging 9.5 ppg and leads the team with 6.3 rebounds and 2.4 blocked shots per game.
Redshirt senior forward Joey Hauser adds 7.0 ppg and is second on the team with 5.8 rpg, while junior forward Julius Marble is averaging 6.2 ppg and 3.2 rpg.
Junior guard Tyson Walker is averaging 7.3 ppg and is second on the team with 4.2 assists and sophomore teammate A.J. Hoggard is averaging 6.4 ppg and leads the team with 5.0 assists.

About Illinois

Illinois enters the game on Saturday afternoon with an 18-7 overall record and an 11-4 mark in the Big Ten Conference.
The Fighting Illini have lost two of their last three games, falling at Purdue (84-68), beating Northwestern at home (73-66) and losing at Rutgers (70-59).
Illinois is 5-4 on the road, including a 5-3 mark in the Big Ten.
Junior forward Kofi Cockburn is third in the Big Ten in scoring (21.4 ppg) and leads the league in rebounding (11.3 rpg).
The Illini are third in the league in scoring offense (75.9 ppg), eighth in scoring defense (66.4 ppg) and second in rebounding margin (+7.4 rpg).

Series History

The game on Saturday afternoon between Michigan State and Illinois is the 126th meeting all-time.
The Spartans lead the head-to-head series, 64-61, and have won 15 of the last 23 against Illinois and 17 of the last 26.
Illinois won the first meeting between the teams, 56-55, at State Farm Arena on Jan. 25.
In the last 28 games in the series, 23 games have been decided by 10 points or fewer.
Tom Izzo is 27-19 in his career against the Illini.

No. 19 Michigan State Hosts No. 12 Illinois on Saturday at Noon

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Players Mentioned

Marcus Bingham Jr.

Gabe Brown

Max Christie

Malik Hall

Joey Hauser

A.J. Hoggard

Tyson Walker

No. 19 Michigan State Hosts No. 12 Illinois on Saturday at Noon

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Next Event

Players Mentioned

Marcus Bingham Jr.

Gabe Brown

Max Christie

Malik Hall

Joey Hauser

A.J. Hoggard

Tyson Walker

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