Saturday, January 17
Seattle, Wa.
6 PM
Michigan State University
at
Washington
Photo by: Matthew Mitchell Photography
No. 12 Michigan State Visits the West Coast, Playing at Washington in Saturday Afternoon in Seattle
1/16/2026 2:39:00 PM | Men's Basketball
SEATTLE, Wash. – No. 12 Michigan State hits the road for a West Coast swing, starting with a visit to the University of Washington on Saturday, Jan. 17 (6 p.m., ET, BTN) ... The Spartans are coming off an 81-60 win over Indiana on Tuesday night, with Jeremy Fears Jr. scoring a career-high 23 and handing out 10 assists.
Saturday's game will air live on BTN, with Aaron Goldsmith 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 113 or 196 on SiriusXM or on the SiriusXM app.
About the Spartans
Core Four
Saturday's game will air live on BTN, with Aaron Goldsmith 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 113 or 196 on SiriusXM or on the SiriusXM app.
About the Spartans
- Michigan State enters Saturday's game with a 15-2 overall record (5-1 Big Ten) and are coming off an 81-60 win over Indiana on Tuesday.
- The Spartans are No. 12 in the latest Associated Press Top 25 poll and the ESPN Coaches poll ... MSU is No. 13 in the NCAA Net Rankings and No. 12 per KenPom.
- The Spartans are No. 11 in the country in assists (19.0 apg), with Fears second in the country with 8.8 apg ... MSU ranks No. 3 in the country in rebound margin (+13.9) and Kohler is 2nd in the Big Ten, and No. 16 nationally, with 10.1 rpg.
- The Spartans are No. 13 nationally in scoring defense (64.2 ppg) and ranks No. 2 nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency per KenPom.
- MSU's captains (Cooper, Kohler, Coen Carr, Fears Jr.) have combined for 61.4% of the team's scoring (824 of 1342 points).
- Through 17 games, the Spartans have four players scoring in double figures, seven averaging at least 5.0 ppg and nine averaging at least 10.0 minutes
- Jaxon Kohler leads the team in scoring with 14.4 ppg and tops the team with 10.1 rpg (2nd B1G, #16 nationally) ... Kohler, who became the first player in MSU history under Head Coach Izzo to have five-straight double-doubles and ranks No. 5 nationally with 10 this season, has scored in double figures 17 times this year.
- Jeremy Fears Jr., who leads the team with 30.8 minutes played, is second on the team with 12.8 ppg and is handing out 8.8 assists per game, second in Division I ... His 150 total assists are No. 2 in the country.
- Coen Carr, one of the most athletic players in all of college basketball, is third on the team with 11.3 ppg, third on the team with 5.1 rpg and second with 1.5 apg in 28.1 mpg.
- Carson Cooper, who had 16 points and a career-best 16 rebounds vs. Duke and scored a career-high 18 points in the win over Northwestern, is playing a career-high 25.1 minutes, is fourth on the team with 10.1 ppg and second with 7.2 rpg, ninth in the B1G.
- Kur Teng, who scored a career-high 15 points against Kentucky, is averaging 7.5 ppg and has scored in double figures in five of the last seven games; Cam Ward is sixth on the team with 5.6 ppg and fourth with 4.3 rpg and Divine Ugochukwu, who scored a career-high 23 points at Penn State, is averaging 5.0 ppg in 15.0 mpg.
- Senior Trey Fort is tallying 4.4 ppg, freshman Jordan Scott adds 4.3 ppg and 3.4 rpg in 16.6 mpg (6.3 ppg, 3.5 rpg in B1G) and redshirt freshman Jesse McCulloch is averaging 3.2 ppg and 1.5 rpg.
Core Four
- MSU Head Coach Tom Izzo has said since the start of the season that the success of the Spartans would largely depend on the team's captains Cooper, Kohler, Carr and Fears.
- Through 17 games, the team's core four are averaging a combined 48.3 points per game and have accounted for 61.4 percent of the team's points (824 of 1,343), 59.3 percent of the team's rebounds (427 of 720) and 68.1 percent of the team's assists (221 of 324).
- Washington enters the game on Saturday with a 10-7 overall record and a 2-4 mark in the Big Ten Conference following an 82-72 loss at home to Michigan on Wednesday.
- Washington is 7-2 at home this season, including an 81-74 conference win vs. Ohio State on Jan. 11.
- Huskies freshman forward Hannes Steinbach joins MSU forward Jaxon Kohler (14.4 PPG, 10.1 RPG) as one of two players in the Big Ten averaging a double-double (17.9 PPG, 11.2 RPG) .
- Huskies senior center Franck Kepnang leads the Big Ten in blocks per game (2.4).
- In Big Ten games, the Huskies are sixth in scoring offense (87.8 ppg) and 5th in blocks (3.6 ppg).
- Michigan State and Washington meet for the eighth time in program history on Saturday.
- The Spartans lead the head-to-head series, 5-2, and have won the last five games in the series.
- MSU won last year's meeting, 88-54, at the Breslin Center in East Lansing.
- The Spartans played the Huskies two other times under Head Coach Tom Izzo.
- Michigan State beat Washington, 64-50, in the first round of the 1996 NIT at the end of Izzo's first season as a head coach.
- The Huskies won the first two meetings between the teams, a 45-52 decision in East Lansing in 1942 and a 71-69 victory in 1957 in Seattle.
Players Mentioned
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