By Danielle Daniels

GAME 14 NOTES AT OHIO STATE

East Lansing, Mich. – Michigan State’s men’s basketball team plays its first game of the 2025 calendar year on Friday, Jan. 3 (8 p.m., FS1), visiting Ohio State.

The game will air live on FS1, with Gus Johnson and Jim Jackson 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 and Matt Steigenga serving as the color analyst, and Zach Surdenik is the studio host. The game can also be heard on channel 381 on SiriusXM and on the SiriusXM app.

About the Spartans

• Michigan State enters Friday’s game with an 11-2 overall record (2-0 B1G) and are No. 18 in the Associated Press poll and No. 15 in the USA Today Coaches poll.
• The Spartans are ranked No. 26 in the NCAA Net Rankings, No. 20 per KenPom.com and No. 23 in the ESPN BPI.
• Including a summer trip to Spain in August, an exhibition game at Northern Michigan (Head Coach Tom Izzo‘s alma mater) on Oct. 13 and trips to Atlanta (Champions Classic, Hawaii (Maui Invitational) and Minnesota (Big Ten opener), the Spartans logged more than 11,500 miles of travel between August and December.
• The Spartans, winners of six-straight and nine of its last 10 games, have just one player (Jaden Akins) scoring in double figures, with three averaging at least 9.0 ppg, five at least 8.0 ppg and 10 scoring at least 4.0 ppg.
• MSU has relied on its depth, with six players averaging at least 20.0 minutes per game and seven averaging at least 19.4 minutes.
• Akins leads the team with 13.7 ppg and is third with 4.2 rpg, while freshman guard Jase Richardson is averaging 9.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.3 assists and senior forward Frankie Fidler is third with 9.2 points, while connecting on a team-best 91.5 percent of is his free throws (54-of-59).
• Junior forward Jaxon Kohler, who has four double-doubles this year, is scoring 8.1 ppg and leads the team with 8.4 rebounds per game, 8th in the Big Ten.
• Redshirt freshman guard Jeremy Fears Jr. is averaging 7.4 points and a team-leading 5.9 assists per game, which ranks 3rd in the Big Ten, while junior Tre Holloman adds 7.4 points and 4.0 assists (11th in B1G).
• Michigan State ranks No. 1 in the country in fast break points (20.2 ppg), No. 5 in bench points (39.3 ppg), No. 6 in rebound margin (+11.8 rpg) and No. 12 in rebounds per game (42.00).
• MSU is averaging 23.5 FT attempts per game (No. 43 in the country) after going to the line 17.2 times per game in 2023-24 and the Spartans rank No. 6 in the country in free throw percentage (81.3%) and No. 14 in free throws made per game (19.1).

About the Buckeyes

• Ohio State enters the game on Friday with a 9-4 overall record and a 1-1 mark in the Big Ten.
• The Buckeyes have won their last three games, including an 85-65 win over then-No. 5 Kentucky in New York City.
• OSU split a pair of Big Ten games last month, losing 83-59 at Maryland on Dec. 4 and beating Rutgers, 80-66, at home on Dec. 7.
• The Buckeyes have three players scoring in double figures, led by junior guard Bruce Thornton, who is scoring 17.4 ppg (8th in the Big Ten).
• Sophomore forward Devin Royal is second on the team with 14.8 ppg and leads the team with 7.5 rebounds, which is 10th in the league.
• Freshman guard John Mobley Jr. is third on the team with 12.2 ppg and has hit a team-best 32 3-pointers, which is tied for fifth in the Big Ten.
• Ohio State ranks sixth in the league in scoring offense (82.8 ppg) and 13th in scoring defense (69.9 ppg) … The Buckeyes lead the Big Ten in 3-point FG percentage (39.6%), hitting 8.5 per game.

Series History

• Michigan State and Ohio State have played 143 times, with MSU leading the all-time series 80-63.
• MSU has won seven of the last 11 meetings and 13 of the last 19 overall.
• The Buckeyes won the lone meeting between the teams last year (see below for more details), a 60-57 decision at the Breslin Center that was Ohio State’s first win in East Lansing since 2012.
• MSU is 26-41 all-time in games played at Ohio State.
• MSU Head Coach Tom Izzo is 35-20 all-time against the Buckeyes.

COURTESY MICHIGAN STATE ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS