Michigan State Hosts Northwestern on Senior Day Wednesday Night

East Lansing, Mich. – Michigan State's men's basketball team returns home for its final regular season home game of the season on Wednesday, March 6, hosting Northwestern (BTN, 7 p.m.). The Spartans, coming off an 80-74 loss at No. 2 Purdue, have won eight of the last 13 games and 13 of the last 20 games overall.

The game will air live on BTN, with Brandon Gaudin, Robbie Hummel and Andy Katz 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 Blake Froling is the studio host. The game can also be heard on channel 387 on SiriusXM and on the SiriusXM app.

About the Spartans

Michigan State enters Wednesday's game with a 17-12 overall record (9-9 B1G).
MSU is No. 22 in the NET rankings, including No. 13 in NET Strength of Schedule.
The Spartans are No. 20 in KenPom and No. 19 in the ESPN College Basketball Power Index.
The Spartans are No. 14 in the BartTorvik.com tempo free stats, No. 30 in adjusted offensive efficiency and No. 16 in defensive efficiency.
MSU ranks No. 30 in the country in FG% defense (40.6%) and No. 35 in scoring defense (66.0 ppg), No. 53 in FG% (47.3%), No. 45 in 3-point percentage (36.7%), No. 24 in assists (16.7 apg) and No. 8 in assist/turnover ratio (1.69).
The Spartans have four players scoring in double figures, and 10 with at least 3.0 points, while nine players average at least 10 minutes per game.
Through 29 games, graduate guard Tyson Walker leads the team in scoring with 18.0 points per game, connecting on 44.7 percent of his shots ... In Big Ten games, Walker is averaging 16.8 ppg and 2.8 assists, while shooting 42.5 percent from the floor.
Walker is one of 5 finalists for the Jerry West Award and needs 17 points to reach 2,000 for his career.
Graduate forward Malik Hall, who has scored in double figures in 13 of the last 14 games and 15 of the last 17 overall, is second on the team with 12.9 points, while adding 5.3 rebounds and 2.1 assists ... In league games, Hall is averaging 14.8 ppg, 5.7 rpg and 2.1 apg.
In the last 16 games, forward Malik Hall is averaging 15.4 ppg, 5.9 rpg and shooting 58.5% from the field, including 54.5% 3FG.
Senior guard A.J. Hoggard is third on the team with 11.1 points, while adding 3.1 rebounds and 5.0 assists, which ranks fifth in the B1G.
Junior guard Jaden Akins, who scored a career-high 23 points against Michigan and has been in double figures in 12 of the last 18 games, is fourth on the team with 10.8 points and 3.7 rebounds.
Sophomore guard Tre Holloman is averaging 5.5 points and is third on the team with 2.6 assists.
Senior forward Mady Sissoko adds 3.6 points and a team-best 5.4 rebounds, while sophomore center Carson Cooper adds 3.7 points and 4.7 rebounds.
Freshman forward Xavier Booker is averaging 4.0 points and 1.7 rebounds and classmate Coen Carr contributes 3.6 points and 2.0 rebounds.

Spartans to Recognize Seven Seniors on Wednesday

The men's basketball program will recognize seven members of the program on Wednesday post-game, graduate forward Malik Hall, graduate guard Tyson Walker, graduate guard Steven Izzo, senior guard A.J. Hoggard, senior forward Mady Sissoko, senior guard Davis Smith and manager Dennis Mayfield.
Hall is just one of 22 players in program history with at least 1,000 points and 600 rebounds ... He earned a bachelor's degree in communication and will earn a master's in sport coaching & leadership.
Walker is the only active player in DI with at least 1,900 points, 500 assists and 200 steals and needs 17 points for 2,000 career ... He earned a bachelor's in psychology and will earn a master's in sport coaching & leadership.
Smith, the son of MSU great Steve Smith, has been a valued part of the scout team for four years and made an impact on the community with his back-to-school drive the last two years ... He will earn a degree in global & international studies.
A native of West Africa, Sissoko has been a starter for two years and last summer, opened the Mady Sissoko Foundation School in his native Mali ... He will earn his bachelor's degree in communication.
Hoggard is just one of seven MSU players all-time with at least 1,00 points and 500 assists and is just one of three MSU players in the last 20 years with 1,000 points, 500 assists and 300 rebounds .... He will graduate with a degree in advertising management.
Izzo, a fixture of the program since he was a youngster, joined the program as a walk-on in 2019-20 ... He earned a bachelor's in advertising management and will earn a master's in education this year.

About the Wildcats

Northwestern enters Wednesday night's game with a 20-9 overall record and an 11-7 mark in the Big Ten following an 87-80 loss at home to Iowa on Sunday.
The Wildcats are 4-6 on the road, including a 3-6 mark in the Big Ten, with conference road wins at Penn State (76-72), Indiana (76-72) and Maryland (68-61).
Northwestern has won three of its last five games overall.
Graduate guard Boo Buie is fourth in the Big Ten in scoring, 14th in field goal percentage and fourth in the league in assists.
The Wildcats rank 8th in the league in field goal percentage (46.0%), but are 2nd in the league in 3-point field goal percentage (39.3%), averaging 8.3 per game (4th in the league).
Northwestern ranks No. 6 in the country in turnovers per game (8.9), No. 16 in turnover margin (+3.7) and No. 6 in assist/turnover ratio (1.78).

Series History

The game on Wednesday between Michigan State and Northwestern will be the 137th meeting between the schools.
MSU leads the all-time series with Northwestern, 94-42.
The Spartans have won 13 of the last 17 games in the series but the Wildcats have won the last three games and four of the last five.
MSU is 52-10 at home all-time against the Wildcats.
MSU's last win in the series was a 73-67 decision on the road on Jan. 20, 2022.
Tom Izzo is 39-8 in his career against Northwestern.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jaden Akins

Xavier Booker

Coen Carr

Carson Cooper

Malik Hall

A.J. Hoggard

Tre Holloman

Steven Izzo

Mady Sissoko

Davis Smith

Tyson Walker