Michigan State Hosts Samford on Tuesday Night at the Breslin Center

East Lansing, Mich. – Michigan State's men's basketball team wraps up a two-game homestand on Tuesday, Nov. 19, hosting Samford at the Breslin Center (8 p.m., Peacock).

The game will air live on Peacock, with Jac Collinsworth 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 channel 391 on SiriusXM and on the SiriusXM app.

About the Spartans

The Spartans are coming off an 86-72 win over Bowling Green on Saturday night, using an 18-0 run over the final 7-plus minutes of the game.
Seven players scored in double figures for MSU, with senior guard Jaden Akins registering his first career double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds ...He led the team in points, rebounds and assists (6).
The Spartans are No. 20 nationally in FT percentage, connecting on 80.0% of their shots from the line (84-of-105) ... MSU is averaging 26.3 FT attempts per game after going to the line 17.2 times per game in 2023-24 ... The Spartans have three players among the top-15 in the B1G in FT percentage (Jaxon Kohler, T6, 91.7%; Carson Cooper, 11th, 90.9%; Frankie Fidler, T12, 90%).
Following Tuesday night's game, the Spartans depart for the Maui Invitational in Hawaii on Friday morning ... MSU plays Colorado on Monday, Nov. 25.
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.
MSU lost to No. 1 Kansas, 77-69, in the Champions Classic last Tuesday night in Atlanta … Fidler scored 15 points to lead MSU while 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 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.
Akins leads the team in scoring with 12.0 points per game and is one of three players scoring in double figures, with Fidler and Kohler each scoring 11.8 points per game.
The Spartans have nine players averaging at least 5.5 points per game.
Kohler leads the team with 8.5 rebounds per game, while redshirt freshman guard Jeremy Fears Jr. is averaging 7.3 points and a team-leading 6.8 assists per game.

About the Bulldogs

Samford enters the game on Tuesday night with a 4-1 overall record following a 97-82 win over Texas Southern on Sunday at home.
The Bulldogs went 29-6 in 2023-24, won the Southern Conference Tournament and lost, 93-89, to Kansas in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Samford lost seven players from last year's team to the transfer portal or graduation and returns one starter, graduate guard Rylan Jones, who was the SoCon Newcomer of the Year last year and is averaging 8.8 points and a team-best 6.6 assists.
Fifth-year Head Coach Bucky McMillan added seven transfers to this year's team, including 6-9 forward Jaden Brownell (UIC), who leads the team with 15.6 ppg.
The Bulldogs rank 16th nationally in 3-pointers per game (11.8 per game) and No. 48 in assist/turnover ratio (1.63, 93 assists, 57 turnovers).

Against Samford, the Southern Conference

Michigan State has an all-time record of 15-1 against teams that currently make up the Southern Conference, including a 9-0 record for Spartans Head Coach Tom Izzo.
Tuesday night's game is the first against Samford but the Spartans have faced five other schools from the league.
MSU has a 7-0 record all-time against East Tennessee State (Izzo, 4-0), a 4-0 mark all-time vs. The Citadel (all under Izzo), a 3-0 mark vs. Furman and a 1-0 record against Wofford (Izzo).
The last time the Spartans beat a team from the SoCon was an 82-56 win over The Citadel on Dec. 22, 2014 at the Breslin Center.
The only loss to a team from the SoCon was a 37-33 decision at home to Mercer on Jan. 1, 1926.

Michigan State Hosts Samford on Tuesday Night at the Breslin Center

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jaden Akins

Carson Cooper

Jeremy Fears Jr.

Frankie Fidler

Jaxon Kohler

Michigan State Hosts Samford on Tuesday Night at the Breslin Center

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jaden Akins

Carson Cooper

Jeremy Fears Jr.

Frankie Fidler

Jaxon Kohler

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