No. 12 Michigan State Faces No. 18 Alabama in Phil Knight Invitational

PORTLAND, Ore. – Michigan State's men's basketball team hits the road again this week, traveling to play in the Phil Knight Invitational in Portland, Ore. The Spartans will face No. 18/18 Alabama in the first round on Thursday, Nov. 24 (ESPN, 10:30 p.m. ET).

The game will air live on ESPN, with Roxy Bernstein, Bill Walton and Myron Medcalf calling all of the action. The TCF Bank Spartan Media Network radio call can be heard on one of 38 affiliates and on the web at MSUSpartans.com, with Will Tieman handling the play-by-play and Matt Steigenga serving as the color analyst. The game can also be heard on channel 385 on SiriusXM and channel 975 on the SiriusXM app.

About the Spartans

The Spartans return nine letterwinners from last year's team that finished 23-13 overall and 11-9 in the Big Ten and reached the NCAA Tournament for the 24th-straight season.
Head Coach Tom Izzo welcomes back five players who started at least one game last year, and a trio of seniors – forwards Malik Hall and Joey Hauser and guard Tyson Walker – who have combined to play 290 games and started 189 games in their careers.
Through four games, Hauser leads the team in scoring with 14.0 points per game, shooting 47.5 percent from the floor and 50.0 percent from 3-point land ... He is one of three players scoring in double figures.
Walker, who scored 22 points in the Villanova win, is second on the team with 13.5 ppg, while adding 3.0 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game.
Hall is third on the team with 12.0 ppg and third with 5.3 rpg ... Four other players are averaging at least 6.0 points.
Junior guard A.J. Hoggard is fourth on the team with 9.5 ppg, fourth with 4.5 rpg and leads the team (and the Big Ten) with 8.3 assists per game.
Junior forward Mady Sissoko, who scored 16 points and had eight rebounds in the win over Kentucky, is averaging 8.8 points and leads the team with 6.5 rebounds.
Sophomore guard Jaden Akins is adding 6.8 points and 3.8 rebounds, while classmate Pierre Brooks is averaging 6.0 points and 1.3 rebounds.

Nation's Toughest November

MSU opens its season by playing six of its first eight games away from home against one of its toughest schedules ever.
The Spartans are scheduled to play six teams who were ranked in the preseason Associated Press poll.
Since 2009-10, the Spartans are one of six teams (including the 2016-17 Spartans) to play at least four AP ranked opponents in the month of November.
MSU is the ONLY team to play two teams in the top 4, with No. 2 Gonzaga on Nov. 11 (a 64-63 loss) and No. 4 Kentucky on Nov. 15 (an 86-77 double overtime win).

Michigan State Hangs on to Beat Villanova, 73-71

Michigan State took a 16-point lead in the second half and hung on for a 73-71 win over Villanova on Friday night in a Gavitt Tipoff Game at the Breslin Center.
Senior guard Tyson Walker led the way for the Spartans with 22, while adding five assists and three rebounds, to lead four players in double figures.
Junior guard A.J. Hoggard had a double-double with 13 points and tied his career-high with 10 assists, while leading the team with eight rebounds, graduate forward Joey Hauser scored 13 points, grabbed five rebounds and had two assists and senior forward Malik Hall added 12 points, two rebounds and two assists.

About Alabama

Alabama enters the Phil Knight Invitational with a 4-0 record following a 104-62 win over Jacksonville State on Friday night home.
The Crimson Tide are ranked No. 18 in both the Associated Press and the USA Today Coaches poll.
In the win over Jacksonville State on Friday night, the Crimson Tide hit 21 three-pointers and the team is averaging 11.0 shots from long distance.
Freshman Brandon Miller, who scored a season-best 28 points including 20 in the second half, leads the team in scoring with 20.3 points per game.
Alabama ranks No. 1 in the country in rebounds per game (56.0) and rebound margin (24.5) and No. 2 indefensive rebounds per game (36.5).
Noah Clowney ranks No. 28 in the country in rebounds per game (10.7).
Alabama has a young lineup with two freshmen starters (Miller and Clowney) and guards Rylan Griffen (10.3 ppg) and Jaden Bradley (8.8 ppg) each playing more than 20 minutes per game.

Series History

When Michigan State and Alabama play on Thursday, Nov. 24 in the Phil Knight Invitational, it will be just the third all-time meeting between the programs.
The teams have split a pair of games, with Alabama winning the first meeting, in 1983, and the Spartans posting a 75-58 win in the championship game of the Pearl Harbor Classic ... Current MSU assistant coach Thomas Kelley played in that game.
Michigan State Head Coach Tom Izzo is 1-0 all-time against the Crimson Tide.

No. 12 Michigan State Faces No. 18 Alabama in Phil Knight Invitational

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