EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State’s men’s basketball team returns home for its fourth game of the season at the Breslin Center, hosting Detroit Mercy on Friday, Nov. 21 (6:30 p.m., BTN).
The Spartans are coming off an 83-66 win over No. 12 Kentucky in the Champions Classic on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Jaxon Kohler scored 20 points, Jeremy Fears Jr. had eight points, six rebounds and a career-high 13 assists,while MSU hit a season-high 11 shots from 3-point land. It was the team’s second ranked win this season, including a 69-66 win over then-No. 14 Arkansas on Nov. 8.
Friday night’s game will air live on BTN, with Cory Provus 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 136 or 195 on SiriusXM or on the SiriusXM app.
About the Spartans
- Michigan State finished the 2024-25 season with a 30-7 overall record, including a 17-3 mark in the Big Ten Conference, winning the league’s regular season title by three games.
- The Spartans are replacing three starters and four letterwinners who accounted for 63.5 percent of the team’s scoring last year, 41.8 percent of the team’s rebounds and 52.3 percent of the team’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 cupboard is not bare, by any stretch, as the team returns captains, junior forward Coen Carr, senior center Carson Cooper, redshirt sophomore point guard Jeremy Fears Jr. and senior forward Jaxon Kohler, a quartet that has combined for more than 300 games played at MSU.
- Through four games, the Spartans have three players scoring in double figures and seven players averaging at least 7.0 ppg and eight playing at least 14.8 minutes.
- Kohler leads the team with 15.3 points per game and 11.3 rebounds, which is fourth among all players in the Big Ten … Kohler, who has two double-doubles, grabbed 18 rebounds against San José State, the most by an MSU player since Miles Bridges had 21 against Savannah State in 2018 … He had 20 points against Kentucky, his first career 20-point game.
- Fears, who leads the team with 32.5 minutes played, is second on the team with 10.3 ppg and is handing out 10.3 assists per game, leading all of Division I.
- Carr, one of the most athletic players in all of college basketball, is third on the team with 10.3 ppg, tied for third with 5.3 rpg and second on the team with 3.0 apg in 29.5 mpg.
- Cooper is playing a career-high 24.8 minutes, is fifth on the team with 9.5 ppg and tied for third with 5.3 rpg.
- Sophomore guard Kur Teng, who scored a career-high 15 points against Kentucky, is averaging 7.8 points and 1.3 assists.
- Freshmen forward Cam Ward is fourth on the team with 9.5 ppg and second with 5.5 rpg and classmate Jordan Scott, who is tied fifth on the team in minutes per game at 17.0, is averaging 3.3 ppg and 4.0 rpg.
- The Spartans played a pair of exhibition games ahead of the season opener, beating Bowling Green, 75-66, at home on Oct. 23, before falling to preseason No. 4 UConn, 76-69, on Oct. 28 in Connecticut.
A Sort of Homecoming
- When Michigan State hosts Detroit Mercy on Friday, it will be a match-up of MSU Head Coach Tom Izzo and one of his former assistants Mark Montgomery, who is in his second season with the Titans.
- Montgomery, who played at Michigan State under Jud Heathcote from 1988-92, was an All-Big Ten Third Team selection in 1992 and still ranks No. 8 all-time in assists, spent 13 seasons as an assistant to Izzo during two stints, first from 2001-11 and then from 2021-24.
- This will be the second time Montgomery has brought a team to the Breslin Center.
- When he was head coach at Northern Illinois, his team played MSU in 2018 (88-60 MSU win).
- In addition to Montgomery, former MSU graduate manager Ian Jones, who spent three seasons with the Spartans under Izzo, is an assistant coach/player development coach.
Remember the Titans
- Detroit Mercy enters the game on Friday with a 1-4 overall record and is coming off a 72-62 loss to Eastern Michigan at home on Tuesday.
- The Titans also have losses at UIC (91-71), at Notre Dame (102-70), and at Toledo (90-83), with their win coming at home against Cleary, 92-54.
- UDM’s roster includes six different transfers and four true freshmen.
- Senior guard Orlando Lovejoy leads the team in scoring (13.8 ppg) and assists (4.0 apg) and is coming off his first career 20-point game, with 20 points at Eastern Michigan (his former school).
Against Detroit
- Michigan State and Detroit Mercy meet for the 63rd time in program history on Friday and the first game since 2020.
- The Spartans lead the all-time series, 46-16, including a 27-6 record at home, consisting of a 5-2 record at the Breslin Center.
- MSU has won the last two games in the series and 13 of the last 15 overall.
- The Spartans won the last game played, 83-76, at the Breslin Center on Dec. 4, 2020.
