East Lansing, Mich. – Michigan State’s males’s basketball crew performs its second exhibition recreation on Tuesday, Oct. 28, visiting No. 4/4 Connecticut at PeoplesBank Arena in Hartford.
The recreation will air dwell on WFSB regionally in Hartford, Conn. and might be obtainable by way of a stream by UConn+ for a one-time charge of $7.99. The Spartan Media Network radio name could be heard state-wide and on the internet at MSUSpartans.com, with Will Tieman dealing with the play-by-play, Matt Steigenga serving as the colour analyst and Zach Surdenik because the studio host.
The Spartans opened its season at house final Thursday with a 75-66 win over Bowling Green on the Breslin Center. The matchup with the Huskies is the second of two exhibition video games for the Spartans, who open the 2025-26 common season on Monday, Nov. 3, internet hosting Colgate.
About the Spartans
- Michigan State completed the 2024-25 season with a 30-7 total document, together with a 17-3 mark within the Big Ten Conference, successful the league’s common season title by three video games.
- It was the eleventh time Big Ten common season title below Head Coach Tom Izzo.
- The Spartans had been chosen to the NCAA Tournament for the Twenty seventh-straight season and superior to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament for the eleventh time, ending the 12 months ranked No. 7 within the Associated Press Top 25.
- MSU Head Coach Tom Izzo enters his thirty first season on the helm of this system he has been with for greater than 40 years, together with his time as an assistant coach.
- The Spartans will look to exchange three starters and 4 letterwinners who accounted for 63.5 p.c of the crew’s scoring final 12 months, 41.8 p.c of the crew’s rebounds and 52.3 p.c of the crew’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 cabinet will not be naked, by any stretch, because the crew welcomes again senior ahead Jaxon Kohler and redshirt sophomore level guard Jeremy Fears Jr., in addition to a gifted group of returning gamers and newcomers.
- Kohler began 34 of 37 video games final 12 months, averaging 7.8 ppg and was among the many top-10 in rebounding within the Big Ten (7.5 rpg), whereas Fears began 36 occasions, averaging 7.2 ppg, was third within the Big Ten in assists (5.4 apg) and was No. 8 nationally in help fee (38.9%).
- The Spartans additionally welcome again junior ahead Coen Carr, probably the most athletic gamers in all of school basketball … He averaged 8.1 ppg and three.6 rpg final 12 months, together with senior middle Carson Cooper, who added 5.0 ppg and 5.2 rpg.
- Sophomore guard Kur Teng and redshirt freshman ahead Jesse McCulloch are anticipated to play important minutes within the rotation this coming 12 months.
- Teng appeared in 19 video games final 12 months as a freshman, averaging 3.1 minutes per contest, whereas McCulloch was a key a part of MSU’s scout crew in the course of the run to the Elite Eight.
MSU Adds Four Transfers, Two Freshmen
- MSU added 4 transfers within the low season – senior guard Trey Fort (Samford), junior ahead Kaleb Glenn (Florida Atlantic), sophomore guard Divine Ugochukwu (Miami) and graduate guard Denham Wojcik (Harvard).
- Fort began all 33 video games at Samford final 12 months, main the crew in scoring with 14.6 ppg and including 3.9 rpg in 24.6 minutes … He was a Second Team All-Southern Conference choice.
- Ugochukwu transferred to MSU from Miami, the place he began 16 of 28 video games as a freshman, averaging 5.3 factors and a pair of.3 assists per recreation.
- Wojcik, the son of MSU affiliate head coach Doug Wojcik, performed three years at Harvard earlier than sitting out final 12 months following low season surgical procedure.
- Glenn, who was an American Athletic Conference Second Team All-Conference decide at FAU, suffered an damage throughout summer time exercises and is predicted to overlook the season.
- A pair of freshmen from the Washington, D.C. space are anticipated to contribute immediately, ahead Jordan Scott (Reston, Va.) and ahead Cam Ward (Largo, Md.).
- Ward, the No. 50 participant within the class of 2025 per 247Sports.com, was the two-time Gatorade Player of the Year in Maryland and broke the state’s scoring document as a senior.
- Scott, the No. 86 prospect within the ESPN Top 100, helped lead South Lakes to back-to-back state titles in Virginia and was chosen to play within the Capital Classic All-Star Game and the Allen Iverson Classic.
Michigan State Exhibition History
- The Spartans are enjoying a pair of exhibition video games towards Division I colleges this 12 months, posting a 75-66 win over Bowling Green final Thursday and visiting Connecticut on Tuesday, Oct. 28.
- In current years, Michigan State has primarily performed in-state Division II or III colleges, with contests towards 10 totally different colleges from the state of Michigan.
- The Spartans hosted Tennessee on the Breslin Center in a charity exhibition, an 89-88 loss, forward of the beginning of the 2023-24 season.
- MSU has performed closed scrimmages towards Gonzaga (2018-19) and at Tennessee (2022).
- Last 12 months, MSU beat Ferris State on the Breslin Center, 85-67, and posted a 70-53 win over Northern Michigan within the Superior Dome Showdown within the Upper Peninsula.
- The recreation at Northern Michigan marked the primary time that MSU Head Coach Tom Izzo coached the Spartans in a recreation at his alma mater and NMU retired Izzo’s jersey quantity in the course of the weekend.
Against UConn
- Michigan State and UConn have performed eight video games within the common season and cut up these conferences, with every crew successful 4 video games.
- The Spartans have received the final two video games within the sequence, together with a 64-60 win at Nov. 25, 2021 on the Battle 4 Atlantis within the Bahamas.
- UConn’s final win was a 60-54 determination on March 30, 2014 within the NCAA Tournament East Regional Final at Madison Square Garden.
- The Spartans have performed as soon as at UConn, shedding 82-68 at Gampel Pavilion on Dec. 5, 1998.