Monday, December 29
East Lansing, Mich.
7 PM
Michigan State University
vs
Cornell
No. 9 Michigan State Closes Out 2025 on Monday Night, Hosting Cornell at the Breslin Center
12/28/2025 2:45:00 PM | Men's Basketball
EAST LANSING, Mich. – No. 9 Michigan State returns to the Breslin Center to close out the 2025 calendar year, hosting Cornell on Monday, Dec. 29 (7 p.m., FS1). MSU is coming off a 79-70 win over Oakland last Saturday at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, with Coen Carr scoring a career-high 22 points to lead the team.
Monday's game will air live on FS1, with Jeff Levering and former Spartan All-American Steve Smith 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. The game can also be heard on channels 139 or 196 on SiriusXM or on the SiriusXM app.
About the Spartans
Monday's game will air live on FS1, with Jeff Levering and former Spartan All-American Steve Smith 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. The game can also be heard on channels 139 or 196 on SiriusXM or on the SiriusXM app.
About the Spartans
- Michigan State enters Monday's game with an 11-1 overall record (2-0 Big Ten) and are coming off a 79-70 win over Oakland last Saturday in Detroit.
- The Spartans are No. 9 in the Associated Press Top 25 and No. 9 in the ESPN Coaches poll ... MSU is No. 13 in the NCAA Net Rankings and No. 13 per KenPom.
- The Spartans have won their last three games
- Michigan State is one of five schools nationally with 4 Quad 1 wins (Duke, Arizona, UConn and Michigan).
- The Spartans are No. 13 in the country in assists per game (19.3), with Jeremy Fears Jr. second in the country with 9.2 dimes per game (and 110 total).
- MSU ranks No. 3 in the country in rebound margin (+13.8) and Jaxon Kohler is second in the Big Ten, and No. 14 nationally, with 10.3 rpg.
- The Spartans are No. 15 nationally in scoring defense (63.3 ppg) and ranks No. 6 nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency per KenPom.
- Through 12 games, the Spartans have four players scoring in double figures, seven averaging at least 5.0 ppg and nine averaging at least 13.0 minutes.
- Kohler leads the team in scoring with 13.9 ppg and tops the team with 10.3 rpg (2nd B1G, #13 nationally) ... Kohler, who has seven double-doubles, has scored in double figures 12 times this year.
- Fears Jr., who leads the team with 30.8 minutes played, is third on the team with 10.8 ppg and is handing out 9.2 assists per game, second in Division I.
- Carr, one of the most athletic players in all of college basketball, is second on the team with 11.6 ppg, third on the team with 4.9 rpg and third with 1.6 apg in 28.7 mpg.
- Carson Cooper, who had 16 points and a career-best 16 rebounds vs. Duke, is playing a career-high 24.8 minutes, is fourth on the team with 10.5 ppg and second with 7.0 rpg, 12th in the B1G.
- Kur Teng, who scored a career-high 15 points against Kentucky, is averaging 6.8 ppg, Cam Ward is sixth on the team with 6.4 ppg and fourth with 4.2 rpg and Divine Ugochukwu, who scored a career-high 23 points at Penn State, is averaging 5.0 ppg in 13.2 mpg.
- Senior Trey Fort is tallying 4.8 ppg, redshirt freshman Jesse McCulloch is averaging 4.0 ppg and 2.0 rpg and freshman Jordan Scott adds 3.8 ppg and 3.3 rpg in 16.1 mpg.
- Tom Izzo has consistently played one of the toughest schedules in America.
- With a willingness to play at home, on the road or a neutral site, his list of regular-season non-conference opponents reads like a who's who of top college basketball programs.
- MSU ranks No. 24 nationally in the NET Strength of Schedule and No. 42 in non-conference strength.
- The 2025-26 home schedule is arguably the best in program history, with home non-conference games against Arkansas (W, 69-66) and Duke (L, 66-60) ... In addition to 10 Big Ten contests, MSU will host 12 power conference opponents for the first time in the Izzo Era.
- Michigan State's challenging schedule through the opening month-plus has provided opportunities for the Spartans as well.
- The Spartans are one of only five teams nationally with four Quad 1 wins, notching wins over Arkansas, Kentucky, North Carolina and Iowa ... The only other schools with four Quad 1 wins are Duke, Arizona, UConn and Michigan.
- The Spartans, who have made the highest climb in the Associated Press poll from No. 22 in the preseason to a current rank of No. 9, have played six games against high-major opponents, including four-straight games (North Carolina, Iowa, Duke and Penn State).
- MSU's 10-1 start to the season is its best since the 2017-18 season.
- Since Michigan State hit 11 shots from 3-point land against Kentucky in an 83-66 win in the Champions Classic, the Spartans have been among the best teams from deep in the country.
- MSU opened the 2025-26 season by connecting on just 21.7 percent of their attempts (13-of-61).
- The Spartans hit 11-of-22 against Kentucky and over the last nine games, the team is shooting 40.2 percent (74-of-184) from 3-point land.
- During that nine-game span, MSU ranks No. 17 in the country in 3-point percentage, per Bart Torvik.
- Three players have hit at least 10 in that span (Jaxon Kohler, 15; Kur Teng, 13; Divine Ugochukwu, 11), while eight players have hit at least five.
- Cornell enters the game on Monday with a 6-5 record following an 83-75 win over the University of Albany in New York on Sunday, Dec. 21.
- The game on Monday night will be the ninth road game of the season for Cornell ... The Big Red are 3-5 away from home, including wins at Lafayette, Bucknell and Albany.
- Cornell, picked by Blue Ribbon to finish in second place in the Ivy League, was among the highest-scoring teams in the country last year (85.1 ppg, 4th nationally).
- Despite losing three of the team's top five scorers from last year, Cornell returns starting guards Cooper Noard (Honorable Mention All-Ivy) and Jake Fiegen, who have combined for 51 3-pointers (34 for Noard, 17 for Feigen).
- Cornell ranks 1st nationally in 3-pointers per game (14.2), fifth in 3-point percentage (41.6%) and No. 16 in scoring offense (90.4 ppg).
- Michigan State will close out the 2025 calendar year on Monday, Dec. 29, hosting Cornell at the Breslin Center.
- This will be the seventh all-time meeting between the schools, with MSU leading the head-to-head series, 5-1.
- All six previous meetings have been played at Michigan State, including a pair of games at the Breslin Center.
- Michigan State won the last meeting between the teams, 89-56, on Nov. 24, 2000.
- Cornell's lone win in the series was a 56-45 decision on Dec. 20, 1948.
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