No. 16 Michigan State Plays at Northwestern on Sunday

East Lansing, Mich. – Michigan State's men's basketball team hits the road for its third Big Ten Conference road game, playing at Northwestern on Sunday, Jan. 12 (noon ET, FOX). MSU, ranked No. 16 in the Associated Press poll and No. 14 in the USA Today Coaches poll, is coming off an 88-54 win over Washington on Thursday night, its eighth-straight win.

The game will air live on FOX, with Gus Johnson and Jim Jackson 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 channels 170 and 195 on SiriusXM and on the SiriusXM app.

About the Spartans

Michigan State enters Sunday's game with an 13-2 overall record (4-0 B1G) and are No. 16 in the Associated Press poll and No. 14 in the USA Today Coaches poll.
The Spartans are ranked No. 16 in the NCAA Net Rankings, No. 14 per KenPom.com and No. 16 in the ESPN BPI.
The Spartans, winners of eight-straight and 11 of its last 12 games, have just one player (Jaden Akins) scoring in double figures.
The Spartans are the only team in the AP Top 25 with just one player scoring in double figures.
MSU has four players averaging at least 8.0 ppg and 10 scoring at least 4.0 ppg.
MSU has relied on its depth, with six players averaging at least 20.0 minutes per game and 10 players at least 10.0 minutes.
Akins leads the team with 14.1 ppg and is third with 4.0 rpg, while freshman guard Jase Richardson is averaging 9.5 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists and sophomore forward Coen Carr is third on the team with 8.8 points.
Junior forward Jaxon Kohler, who has four double-doubles this year, is scoring 7.9 ppg and leads the team with 8.4 rebounds per game, 6th in the Big Ten (3rd in B1G games only with 10.0 rpg).
Redshirt freshman guard Jeremy Fears Jr. is averaging 7.6 points and a team-leading 6.3 assists per game, which ranks 3rd in the Big Ten, while junior Tre Holloman adds 7.3 points and 3.9 assists (4.8 in conference games).
MSU is averaging 23.0 FT attempts per game (No. 47 in the country) after going to the line 17.2 times per game in 2023-24 and the Spartans rank No. 2 in the country in free throw percentage (82.0%) and No. 14 in free throws made per game (18.9) …. The Spartans have made more free throws (283) than their opponents have taken (261).
MSU also ranks No. 7 in the country in rebound margin (+10.9), No. 9 in defensive rebounds per game (29.1/g) and No. 14 in rebounds per game (41.3).

About the Wildcats

Northwestern enters the game on Sunday with a 10-5 overall record and a 1-3 mark in the Big Ten Conference.
The game on Sunday will be the first for the Wildcats in a week.
Northwestern has lost its last two games, an 84-80 decision at Penn State and a 79-61 loss at Purdue last Sunday.
The Wildcats split their first two conference games in early December, losing 80-79 at Iowa and beating Illinois, 70-66, in overtime.
Northwestern is 8-0 at home this year.
Junior forward Nick Martinelli is leads the team in scoring, and ranks tied for second in the Big Ten, with 19.4 points per game, and is 11th in the league in field goal percentage (50.9), while senior guard Brooks Barnhizer is second on the team with 19.3 points and leads the team with 9.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game.
Northwestern ranks 16th in the league in scoring offense (74.1 ppg) and is tied for fourth in the league in scoring defense (66.2 ppg) ... In Big Ten-only games, the Wildcats are tied for 11th in scoring offense (72.5 ppg) and 12th in the league in scoring defense (77.3 ppg).

Series History

The game on Sunday between Michigan State and Northwestern will be the 138th meeting between the schools.
MSU leads the all-time series with Northwestern, 95-42.
The Spartans have won 14 of the last 18 games in the series but the Wildcats have won four of the last six.
MSU is 38-32 in games played at Northwestern.
The teams split a pair of games last year, with each team winning at home.
Tom Izzo is 40-8 in his career against Northwestern.

Players Mentioned

Jaden Akins

Coen Carr

Jeremy Fears Jr.

Tre Holloman

Jaxon Kohler

Jase Richardson

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