Michigan State hosts Samford on Tuesday night at the Breslin Center

On By Littum

East Lansing, Mich. – The Michigan State men’s basketball team wraps up a two-game homestand on Tuesday, Nov. 19, hosting Samford at the Breslin Center (8 p.m., Peacock).

The game will be broadcast live on the Peacock, with Jac Collinsworth and Stephen Bardo calling all the action. The Spartan Media Network radio call can be heard nationwide and online at MSUSpartans.com, with Will Tieman handling play-by-play and Matt Steigenga serving as color analyst and Zach Surdenik serving as studio host. The game can also be heard on channel 391 on SiriusXM and on the SiriusXM app.

About the Spartans

  • The Spartans are coming off an 86-72 win over Bowling Green on Saturday night by using an 18-0 run over the final 7-plus minutes of the game.

  • Seven players scored in double figures for MSU, with the senior guard Jaden Akins recorded his first career double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds … He led the team in points, rebounds and assists (6).

  • The Spartans are No. 20 nationally in FT percentage, connecting on 80.0% of their shots from the line (84-of-105) … MSU is averaging 26.3 FT attempts per game. game after going to the line 17.2 times per game in 2023 -24 … The Spartans have three players in the top-15 in the B1G in FT percentage (Jaxon KohlerT6, 91.7%; Carson Cooper11th, 90.9%; Frankie FiddlerT12, 90%).

  • After Tuesday night’s game, the Spartans depart for the Maui Invitational in Hawaii Friday morning … MSU will play Colorado on Monday, Nov. 25.

  • The Spartans opened the season with wins at home last week, beating Monmouth in the opener, 81-57, and followed that up with a 96-60 victory over Niagara on Nov. 7.

  • MSU lost to No. 1 Kansas, 77-69, in the Champions Classic last Tuesday night in Atlanta … Fidler scored 15 points to lead MSU, while Kohler had his second-straight double-double (12 pts, 10 rebounds).

  • The Spartans opened the season with wins at home last week, beating Monmouth in the opener, 81-57, and followed that up with a 96-60 victory over Niagara on Nov. 7.

  • The Spartans played a pair of exhibition games prior to the 2024-25 season, including a 70-53 at Northern Michigan on Oct. 13, the first time MSU Head Coach Tom Izzo coached a game at his alma mater.

  • Akins leads the team in scoring with 12.0 points per game. game and is one of three players to score in double figures, with Fidler and Kohler each scoring 11.8 points per game. match.

  • The Spartans have nine players averaging at least 5.5 points per game. match.

  • Kohler leads the team with 8.5 rebounds per game Jeremy Fears Jr. averages 7.3 points and a team-leading 6.8 assists per game. match.

About Bulldogs

  • Samford enters Tuesday night’s game with a 4-1 overall record after a 97-82 win over Texas Southern on Sunday at home.

  • The Bulldogs went 29-6 in 2023-24, winning the Southern Conference Tournament and losing, 93-89, to Kansas in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

  • Samford lost seven players from last year’s team to transfers or graduation and returns one starter, graduated guard Rylan Jones, who was SoCon Newcomer of the Year last year and is averaging 8.8 points and a team-best 6.6 assists.

  • Fifth-year head coach Bucky McMillan added seven transfers to this year’s team, including 6-9 forward Jaden Brownell (UIC), who leads the team with 15.6 ppg.

  • The Bulldogs rank 16th nationally in 3-pointers per. game (11.8 per game) and No. 48 in assist/turnover ratio (1.63, 93 assists, 57 turnovers).

Against Samford, Southern Conference

  • Michigan State has a 15-1 record against teams currently making up the Southern Conference, including a 9-0 record for Spartans Head Coach Tom Izzo.

  • Tuesday night’s game is the first against Samford, but the Spartans have faced five other schools from the league.

  • MSU has a 7-0 all-time record against East Tennessee State (Izzo, 4-0), a 4-0 mark all-time vs. The Citadel (all under Izzo), a 3-0 mark against Furman and a 1-0 record against Wofford (Izzo).

  • The last time the Spartans beat a team from the SoCon was an 82-56 win over The Citadel on Dec. 22, 2014 at the Breslin Center.

  • The only loss to a team from the SoCon was a 37-33 decision at home against Mercer on January 1, 1926.