Michigan State Opens 2025-26 Season with Exhibition Game against Bowling Green on Thursday Night

East Lansing, Mich. – Michigan State's men's basketball team tips off the 2025-26 season on Thursday, Oct. 23, hosting Bowling Green at the Breslin Center. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m.

The game against the Falcons will air live on B1G+, with Kyle Keegan, Charlie Schmidgall and Charlotte Terback 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, Matt Steigenga serving as the color analyst and Zach Surdenik as the studio host.

This is the first of two exhibition games for the Spartans, who play their second exhibition game on Tuesday, Oct. 28, visiting Connecticut.

About the Spartans

Michigan State finished the 2024-25 season with a 30-7 overall record, including a 17-3 mark in the Big Ten Conference, winning the league's regular season title by three games.
It was the 11th time Big Ten regular season title under Head Coach Tom Izzo.
The Spartans were selected to the NCAA Tournament for the 27th-straight season and advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament for the 11th time, finishing the year ranked No. 7 in the Associated Press Top 25.
MSU Head Coach Tom Izzo enters his 31st season at the helm of the program he has been with for more than 40 years, including his time as an assistant coach.
The Spartans will look to replace three starters and four letterwinners who accounted for 63.5 percent of the team's scoring last year, 41.8 percent of the team's rebounds and 52.3 percent of the team's assists … Notable losses included guards Jaden Akins (All-Big Ten Third Team, All-Defensive Team) and Jase Richardson (All-Big Ten Third Team, All-Freshman Team).
The cupboard is not bare, by any stretch, as the team welcomes back senior forward Jaxon Kohler and redshirt sophomore point guard Jeremy Fears Jr., as well as a talented group of returning players and newcomers.
Kohler started 34 of 37 games last year, averaging 7.8 ppg and was among the top-10 in rebounding in the Big Ten (7.5 rpg), while Fears started 36 times, averaging 7.2 ppg, was third in the Big Ten in assists (5.4 apg) and was No. 8 nationally in assist rate (38.9%).
The Spartans also welcome back junior forward Coen Carr, one of the most athletic players in all of college basketball … He averaged 8.1 ppg and 3.6 rpg last year, along with senior center Carson Cooper, who added 5.0 ppg and 5.2 rpg.
Sophomore guard Kur Teng and redshirt freshman forward Jesse McCulluch are expected to play significant minutes in the rotation this coming year.
Teng appeared in 19 games last year as a freshman, averaging 3.1 minutes per contest, while McCulloch was a key part of MSU's scout team during the run to the Elite Eight.

MSU Adds Four Transfers

MSU added four transfers in the off-season – senior guard Trey Fort (Samford), junior forward Kaleb Glenn (Florida Atlantic), sophomore guard Divine Ugochukwu (Miami) and graduate guard Denham Wojcik (Harvard).
Fort started all 33 games at Samford last year, leading the team in scoring with 14.6 ppg and adding 3.9 rpg in 24.6 minutes … He was a Second Team All-Southern Conference selection.
Ugochukwu transferred to MSU from Miami, where he started 16 of 28 games as a freshman, averaging 5.3 points and 2.3 assists per game.
Wojcik, the son of MSU associate head coach Doug Wojcik, played three years at Harvard before sitting out last year following off-season surgery.
Glenn, who was an American Athletic Conference Second Team All-Conference pick at FAU, suffered an injury during summer workouts and is expected to miss the season.

Three Newcomers Make Up Freshman Class

A pair of freshman from the Washington, D.C. area are expected to contribute right away, forward Jordan Scott (Reston, Va.) and forward Cam Ward (Largo, Md.).
Ward, the No. 50 player in the class of 2025 per 247Sports.com, was the two-time Gatorade Player of the Year in Maryland and broke the state's scoring record as a senior.
Scott, the No. 86 prospect in the ESPN Top 100, helped lead South Lakes to back-to-back state titles in Virginia and was selected to play in the Capital Classic All-Star Game and the Allen Iverson Classic.

Michigan State Exhibition History

The Spartans are playing a pair of exhibition games against Division I schools this year, first against Bowling Green and visiting Connecticut on Tuesday, Oct. 28.
In recent years, Michigan State has primarily played in-state Division II or III schools, with contests against 10 different schools from the state of Michigan.
The Spartans hosted Tennessee at the Breslin Center in a charity exhibition, an 89-88 loss, ahead of the start of the 2023-24 season.
MSU has played closed scrimmages against Gonzaga (2018-19) and at Tennessee (2022).
Last year, MSU beat Ferris State at the Breslin Center, 85-67, and posted a 70-53 win over Northern Michigan in the Superior Dome Showdown in the Upper Peninsula … The game at Northern Michigan marked the first time that MSU Head Coach Tom Izzo coached the Spartans in a game at his alma mater and NMU retired Izzo's jersey number during the weekend.

Michigan State Opens 2025-26 Season with Exhibition Game against Bowling Green on Thursday Night

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jaden Akins

Coen Carr

Carson Cooper

Jeremy Fears Jr.

Trey Fort

Kaleb Glenn

Jaxon Kohler

Jase Richardson

Jordan Scott

Kur Teng

Divine Ugochukwu

Cam Ward

Denham Wojcik

Michigan State Opens 2025-26 Season with Exhibition Game against Bowling Green on Thursday Night

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jaden Akins

Coen Carr

Carson Cooper

Jeremy Fears Jr.

Trey Fort

Kaleb Glenn

Jaxon Kohler

Jase Richardson

Jordan Scott

Kur Teng

Divine Ugochukwu

Cam Ward

Denham Wojcik

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