Spartans Host Bowling Green on Saturday at the Breslin Center

East Lansing, Mich. – Michigan State's men's basketball team returns home to the Breslin Center for a pair of games, starting with a matchup against Bowling Green on Saturday, Nov. 16 (6 p.m., BTN).

The game will air live on BTN, with Jack Kiser and Stephen Bardo calling all of the action. The Spartan Media Network radio call can be heard state-wide and on the web at MSUSpartans.com, with Will Tieman handling the play-by-play and Matt Steigenga serving as the color analyst, and Zach Surdenik is the studio host. The game can also be heard on the SiriusXM app.

About the Spartans

The Spartans opened the season with wins at home last week, beating Monmouth in the opener, 81-57, and following that up with a 96-60 win over Niagara on Nov.7.
The Spartans are coming off a 77-69 loss to No. 1 Kansas in the Champions Classic on Tuesday night in Atlanta. Senior forward Frankie Fidler scored 15 points to lead MSU while junior forward Jaxon Kohler had his second-straight double-double (12 pts, 10 rebounds).
The Spartans opened the season with wins at home last week, beating Monmouth in the opener, 81-57, and following that up with a 96-60 win over Niagara on Nov.7.
The game against Bowling Green is the first of two-straight home games, as MSU will host Samford on Tuesday, Nov. 19 (8 p.m.).
The Spartans close out the month of November at the Maui Invitational (Nov. 25-27).
The Spartans played a pair of exhibition games ahead of the 2024-25 season, including a 70-53 at Northern Michigan on Oct. 13, the first time MSU Head Coach Tom Izzo coached a game at his alma mater.
The Spartans return eight letterwinners, add two transfers and five freshmen to last year's team that finished 20-15 overall and went to the NCAA Tournament for the 26th-straight time, the longest active streak in Division I.
The Spartans were selected for the NCAA Tournament for the 26th-straight season, the longest streak in Big Ten Conference history, the third-longest in NCAA history and officially recognized by the NCAA as the longest active streak.
The Spartans will replace four starters who accounted for 61.7 percent of the team's scoring last year, 48.6 percent of the team's rebounds and 64.2 percent of the team's assists, led by guard Tyson Walker (All-Big Ten Second Team).
MSU returns three players who started games last year, led by Akins, who finished fourth on the team in scoring with 10.4 points per game while adding 3.9 rebounds, 1.2 assists and tying for the team lead in 3-pointers made (64) … He was the only player to start all 35 games last year.
Michigan State also returns eight letterwinners, and welcomes five newcomers, two transfers and five freshmen.
Junior guard Tre Holloman emerged as a key player in the rotation as a sophomore, averaging 19.7 minutes per game while contributing 5.7 ppg, finishing second on the team with 2.4 apg and leading the team in 3-point field goal percentage (42.5%).
Junior center Carson Cooper started the final four games of the season and appeared in all 35 games, averaging 3.4 points and 4.4 rebounds overall.
MSU added transfers in senior forward Frankie Fidler (Omaha) and senior center Szymon Zapala (Longwood/Utah State).
Fidler, a 6-7, 217-pound forward, spent three years at Omaha and was named First Team All-Summit League in 2023-24 after averaging 20.1 points per game, 6.3 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game.
Zapala, a 7-0, 245-pound center, averaged 9.8 points and 5.6 rebounds per game in 16.7 minutes, connecting on 62.9 percent of his shots from the floor and starting in 23 of 35 games as Longwood won the Big South Tournament and advance to the NCAA Tournament.

A Sort of Homecoming

When Michigan State hosts Bowling Green on Saturday at the Breslin Center, a familiar face will be on the visiting sidelines.
Bowling Green's associate head coach is Lourawls "TumTum" Nairn Jr., who was a Spartan standout for MSU Head Coach Tom Izzo from 2014-18.
A native of the Bahamas, Nairn is one of six Spartans in program history to be a three-year captain and he became the fourth MSU freshman all-time to start at point guard in the NCAAs and just the second to start in the Final Four, joining Magic Johnson.
He spent one year as an assistant coach at Southern Utah to Todd Simon and moved with him to Bowling Green last year.

About the Falcons

Bowling Green enters the game on Saturday with a 1-2 record following a 107-43 win over Taylor (Ind.) on Monday night.
The Falcons opened the season with a road loss at Southern Miss (77-68) and a loss at home to Davidson (91-85).
Head Coach Todd Simon, a native of Fowler, Mich. who graduated from Central Michigan, is in his second year at the helm of the program.
Last year, in his first at BGSU, he engineered a turnaround that saw the Falcons become one of 10 Division I teams to go from 20 losses to 20 wins in one year.
Bowling Green added four Division I transfers, one Division II transfer and three junior college grads to this year's team.

Against Bowling Green

Michigan State and Kansas have met 15 times prior to Tuesday night's game, with the Jayhawks leading the series, 8-7 … The teams are 2-2 in the Champions Classic.
Michigan State and Bowling Green meet for the 15th time in program history on Saturday.
The Spartans have an all-time record of 11-3 against the Falcons, including a 7-1 record at home and a 5-1 record at the Breslin Center.
Two of the three wins in the series for the Falcons came in back-to-back seasons (1988-89 and 1989-90), including an 81-79 win during the first season Michigan State played at the Breslin Center.
Bowling Green's last win was a 98-85 decision in Ohio on Dec. 1, 1990.
The Spartans have won five-straight games in the series, the last win a 64-53 decision on Dec. 18, 2012 at Bowling Green.

Spartans Host Bowling Green on Saturday at the Breslin Center

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Carson Cooper

Frankie Fidler

Tre Holloman

Jaxon Kohler

Tyson Walker

Szymon Zapala

Spartans Host Bowling Green on Saturday at the Breslin Center

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Carson Cooper

Frankie Fidler

Tre Holloman

Jaxon Kohler

Tyson Walker

Szymon Zapala

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