No. 7 Michigan State Returns Home to Host No. 3 Michigan at the Breslin Center on Friday Night

Friday, January 30

East Lansing, Mich.

8 PM

Michigan State University

Michigan

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Photo by: Matthew Mitchell Photography

No. 7 Michigan State Returns Home to Host No. 3 Michigan at the Breslin Center on Friday Night

1/29/2026 2:15:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Game 22 Michigan 2026 01 30 bkm notes at msu

East Lansing, Mich. – Michigan State, winners of seven-straight games, hosts in-state rival Michigan on Friday night, Jan. 30 at the Breslin Center (FOX, 8 p.m.).

Friday's game will air live on FOX, with Gus Johnson, Bill Raftery and Allison Williams 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 channel 84 on SiriusXM or on the SiriusXM app.

About the Spartans

Michigan State enters Friday's game with a 19-2 overall record (9-1 Big Ten) and are coming off an 88-79 overtime win at Rutgers on Tuesday.
The Spartans are No. 7 in the latest Associated Press Top 25 poll and No. 8 in the ESPN Coaches poll.
MSU is No. 10 in the NCAA Net Rankings and No. 7 per KenPom and are 1 of 9 schools nationally with at least 10 Quad 1/2 wins.
MSU is No. 10 in the country in assists (18.9 apg), with Jeremy Fears Jr. second nationally with 8.9 apg.
MSU ranks No. 2 in the country in rebound margin (+13.8) and Jaxon Kohler is 2nd in the Big Ten, and No. 30 nationally, with 9.3 rpg.
The Spartans are No. 7 nationally in scoring defense (63.5 ppg) and rank No. 1 nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency per KenPom.
MSU ranks No. 13 nationally, and lead the B1G, in fast break points (17.1 ppg).
MSU's captains (Carson Cooper, Kohler, Coen Carr, Fears Jr.) have combined for 62.2% of the team's scoring (1,038 of 1,670 points) and average 49.4, ppg, 24.6 rpg and 13.1 assists.
Through 21 games, the Spartans have four players scoring double figures, seven averaging at least 5.0 ppg and nine averaging at least 10.0 minutes.
Fears Jr., who leads the team with 30.7 minutes played, leads the team with 14.1 ppg and is handing out 8.9 assists per game, second in Division I ... His 186 total assists rank No. 2 in the country.
Kohler is second on the team in scoring with 13.1 ppg and tops the team with 9.3 rpg (2nd B1G, #30 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 19 times.
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 1.4 apg in 27.7 mpg.
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 26.1 minutes, is fourth on the team with 10.8 ppg and second with 7.5 rpg, seventh in the B1G ... He has scored in double figures 13 times.
Kur Teng, who scored a career-high 15 points against Kentucky, is averaging 7.1 ppg and has scored in double figures in eight games ... Divine Ugochukwu, who had nine points, and set season-highs with six rebounds and six assists at Rutgers, is averaging 5.5 ppg, 1.6 rpg and 1.6 apg in 16.7 mpg
Cam Ward is sixth on the team with 5.3 ppg and fourth with 4.3 rpg and Jordan Scott adds 4.5 ppg and 3.2 rpg in 16.9 mpg (5.9 ppg, 3.1 rpg in B1G).
Senior guard Trey Fort is tallying 4.1 ppg, redshirt freshman Jesse McCulloch is averaging 3.1 ppg and 1.5 rpg and senior guard Denham Wojcik averages 1.4 assists in 6.2 minutes.

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. 7 nationally in scoring defense (63.5 ppg), No. 2 nationally in rebound margin (+13.8), No. 18 in rebounds per game (41.4 rpg) and No. 13 nationally in fast break points per game (17.1 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 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 21 games, the team's core four are averaging a combined 49.4 points, 24.6 rebounds and 13.1 assists.
They have accounted for 62.2 percent of the team's points (1,038 of 1,670), 59.3 percent of the team's rebounds (516 of 870) and 69.3 percent of the team's assists (275 of 397).

Series History

Michigan State and Michigan will play for the 197th time in series history when the teams meet on Friday night at the Breslin Center.
Michigan leads the all-time series with Michigan State, 104-92.
MSU swept the season series last year with a 75-62 win in Ann Arbor and a 79-62 win at home in the last game of the regular season.
The Spartans have won the last four games and seven of the last nine.
MSU is 56-38 at home, including a 25-8 record at the Breslin Center, where they have won the last seven games.
Michigan's last win at the Breslin Center was on Jan. 13, 2018 (87-72).
Tom Izzo is 36-21 in his career against the Wolverines.

Ranked Games Against Michigan

Friday's game with Michigan will be the 19th time Michigan State has played its in-state rival when both teams were ranked/
This is the fifth time the Spartans have played the Wolverines when both were ranked in the top-10, but the game on Friday night will be the highest-ranked matchup for both programs.
Michigan State has a 12-6 record against UM when both teams are ranked.
The Spartans have won three of the last four games between the teams when ranked among the top-10, a 75-63 win on March 9, 2019 at home, a 77-70 decision at UM on Feb. 24, 2019 and a 75-52 win on Feb. 12, 2013.

Against the Opponent

Michigan enters the game on Friday with a 19-1 overall record, including a 9-1 mark in the Big Ten following a 75-72 win over Nebraska at home on Tuesday.
The Wolverines only loss this season came at home to Wisconsin (91-88) and they have won their last five games.
They are 5-0 away from home and 4-0 on the road in Big Ten games.
In Big Ten games, the Wolverines lead the conference in scoring offense (85.8 ppg) and rank seventh in scoring defense (72.1).