No. 7 Michigan State Plays at Rutgers on Tuesday Night

Tuesday, January 27

Piscataway, N.J.

6:30 PM

Michigan State University

Rutgers

Photo by: Matthew Mitchell Photography

1/26/2026 4:15:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Game 21 Rutgers 2025 26 RutgersMBB GameNotes MSU

East Lansing, Mich. – Michigan State, winners of six-straight games, hits the road for a matchup at Rutgers on Tuesday, Jan. 27 (6:30 p.m., FS1). The Spartans are coming off a 91-48 win over Maryland on Saturday, the second-largest margin of victory in a Big Ten game in MSU history. Jeremy Fears Jr. had his fifth double-double of the season with 17 points and a career-best 17 assists, the second-most in a game in MSU history.

Tuesday's game will air live on FS1, with Jason Benetti and Bill Raftery 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, Kevin Pauga serving as the color analyst and Zach Surdenik as the studio host. The game can also be heard on channels 162 or 195 on SiriusXM or on the SiriusXM app.

About the Spartans

Michigan State enters Tuesday's game with an 18-2 overall record (8-1 Big Ten) and are coming off a 91-48 win over Maryland at home.
The Spartans are No. 7 in the latest Associated Press Top 25 poll and No. 8 in the ESPN Coaches poll and are 1 of 9 schools nationally with at least 10 Quad 1/2 wins.
MSU is No. 11 in the country in assists (18.9 apg), with Fears second nationally with 8.9 apg.
Michigan State ranks No. 3 in the country in rebound margin (+13.3) and Kohler is 2nd in the Big Ten, and No. 25 nationally, with 9.6 rpg.
The Spartans are No. 5 nationally in scoring defense (62.8 ppg) and ranks No. 1 nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency per KenPom.
Michigan State ranks No. 12 nationally, and lead the B1G, in fast break points (17.30 ppg).
MSU's captains (Cooper, Kohler, Coen Carr, Fears Jr.) have combined for 61.4% of the team's scoring 916 of 1,491 points) and combine to average 48.2, ppg, 24.5 rpg and 12.8 assists.
MSU is No. 10 in the NCAA Net Rankings and No. 6 per KenPom.
Through 20 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.
Jeremy Fears Jr., who leads the team with 30.4 minutes played, leads the team with 13.4 ppg and is handing out 8.9 assists per game, second in Division I ... His 177 total assists rank No. 2 in the country.
Jaxon Kohler is second on the team in scoring with 13.2 ppg and tops the team with 9.6 rpg (2nd B1G, #25 nationally) ... Kohler, who became the first player in MSU history under Head Coach Izzo to have five-straight double-doubles and ranks No. 14 nationally with 10 this season, has scored in double figures 18 times this year.
Coen Carr, one of the most athletic players in all of college basketball, is third on the team with 11.4 ppg, third on the team with 5.2 rpg and 1.5 apg in 27.3 mpg.
Carson Cooper, who had 16 points and a career-best 16 rebounds vs. Duke and scored a career-high 19 points at Oregon, is playing a career-high 25.6 minutes, is fourth on the team with 10.7 ppg and second with 7.2 rpg, ninth in the B1G ... He has scored in double figures 12 times.
Kur Teng, who scored a career-high 15 points against Kentucky, is averaging 7.3 ppg and has scored in double figures in six of the last 10 games ... Cam Ward is sixth on the team with 5.6 ppg and fourth with 4.4 rpg and Divine Ugochukwu, who scored a career-high 23 points at Penn State, is averaging 5.3 ppg in 16.1 mpg.
Freshman Jordan Scott adds 4.4 ppg and 3.2 rpg in 16.4 mpg (5.8 ppg, 3.0 rpg in B1G), senior Trey Fort is tallying 4.3 ppg, and redshirt freshman Jesse McCulloch is averaging 3.1 ppg and 1.5 rpg.

Defend, Rebound & Run

One of the staples of Michigan State men's basketball under Head Coach Tom Izzo has been to Defend, Rebound & Run.
This year, the Spartans have been doing just that ... MSU ranks No. 5 nationally in scoring defense (62.8 ppg), No. 3 nationally in rebound margin (+13.3), No. 21 in rebounds per game (41.3 rpg) and No. 12 nationally in fast break points per game (17.3 ppg).
In addition, the Spartans rank No. 1 nationally, per KenPom, in adjusted defensive efficiency.

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, seniors Carson Cooper and Jaxon Kohler, junior Coen Carr and redshirt sophomore Jeremy Fears Jr.
Through 20 games, the team's core four are averaging a combined 48.6 points, 24.3 rebounds and 13.2 assists.
They have accounted for 61.4 percent of the team's points (972 of 1,582), 58.9 percent of the team's rebounds (486 of 825) and 69.4 percent of the team's assists (263 of 379).

About Rutgers

Rutgers enters the game on Tuesday with a 9-11 overall record and a 2-7 mark in the Big Ten following an 82-59 home loss to Indiana on Friday.
The Scarlet Knights, who have lost their last three games and five of the last seven overall, are 2-3 at home in league play, with wins over Oregon (88-85, ot) and Northwestern (77-75).
Rutgers features a new-look roster with 10 new players, including seven freshmen.
Junior guard Tariq Francis leads the team in scoring with 15.9 ppg and is scoring 17.2 in league games.
In Big Ten games, the Scarlet Knights are tied for 15th in the league in scoring offense (69.6 ppg) and 17th in scoring defense (83.2).

Against the Scarlet Knights

Michigan State and Rutgers meet for the 18th time in program history on Tuesday night.
The Spartans lead the head-to-head series, 14-3, and have won 13 of 16 meetings since Rutgers joined the Big Ten.
Michigan State has won the last two games in the series, including an 81-74 decision last year at Madison Square Garden in New York.
The Spartans are 5-3 on the road against RU.
The Scarlet Knights have won three of the last four games at home, two of them played at The RAC.