Michigan State Meets No. 6 Baylor on Saturday in Detroit

East Lansing, Mich. – Michigan State's men's basketball team returns to Motown this weekend, playing No. 6/6 Baylor at Little Caesars Arena in the Continental Tire Motor City Invitational (2 p.m., FOX). The Spartans are coming off a 77-70 loss at Nebraska on Sunday evening in Lincoln.

The game will air live on FOX, 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 Blake Froling is the studio host. The game can also be heard on channels 196 or 209 on SiriusXM and on the SiriusXM app.

About the Spartans

Michigan State enters Saturday's game against Baylor with a 4-5 overall record (0-2 B1G) following a 77-70 loss at Nebraska on Sunday.
MSU enters the game on Saturday with two-straight losses, including a 70-57 decision to No. 23 Wisconsin at home to start Big Ten Conference play.
Of the team's five losses, four of them are to ranked teams and by an average of 7.8 points per game, including an overtime loss.
MSU ranks No. 23 in the country in FG% defense (38.5%) and No. 46 in scoring defense (63.2 ppg).
The Spartans have three players scoring in double figures, four averaging at least 9.0 points and nine with at least 3.0 points, while 10 players average at least 10 minutes per game.
Graduate guard Tyson Walker is third in the Big Ten in scoring, and ranks No. 20 in the country, with 20.3 points per game.
Walker was selected to the National Association of Basketball Coaches Division I Player of the Year Watch List, as well as the Wooden Award Top 50 and the watch list for the Naismith Trophy Division I Player of the Year.
Walker, who needs 38 points to reach 1,000 at Michigan State, has scored in double figures in 20-straight games, dating back to last year.
Senior guard A.J. Hoggard is tied for second on the team with 10.3 points, while adding 3.4 rebounds and 4.3 assists, which ranks fifth in the Big Ten Conference.
Graduate forward Malik Hall, who scored a season-high 22 points against Nebraska, is tied for second on the team with 10.3 points, while adding 5.4 rebounds and 2.3 assists.
Junior guard Jaden Akins is averaging 9.7 points and 5.0 rebounds.
Sophomore guard Tre Holloman is averaging 5.2 points and is second on the team with 3.0 assists, while senior forward Mady Sissoko adds 4.4 points and 5.3 rebounds.
Freshman forward Coen Carr contributes 4.8 points and 2.9 rebounds, freshman guard Jeremy Fears Jr. is averaging 3.9 points and 2.6 assists and sophomore center Carson Cooper adds 3.2 points and 5.3 rebounds.

About Baylor

Baylor, ranked No. 6 in the Associated Press and ESPN Coaches polls, enters Saturday's game with a 9-0 overall record following a 78-60 win over Seton Hall on Dec. 5.
The Bears have played six games at home and are 3-0 in neutral site games, with wins over Auburn (88-82, at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D.) and over Oregon State (88-72) and Florida (95-91) in the NIT Season Tip Off in Brooklyn, N.Y.
Baylor has six players scoring in double figures for an offense that ranks No. 4 in the country in scoring offense (91.1 ppg), No. 2 in 3-point field goal percentage (43.2%) and No. 6 in field goal percentage (52.0%)
The Bears also rank No. 22 in the country in bench points, with 32.1 points per game coming from its reserves, with Langston Love averaging 12.0 ppg.

Series History

Michigan State and Baylor meet for the third time in program history when the teams play on Sunday at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.
The Bears have won both games between the teams and both games in the Battle 4 Atlantis.
The last time the teams played (read more below) was in the championship game of the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas, a 75-58 Baylor win.
The first meeting was a 73-58 Bears win in the 2016 event.

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Players Mentioned

Jaden Akins

Coen Carr

Carson Cooper

Jeremy Fears Jr.

Malik Hall

A.J. Hoggard

Tre Holloman

Mady Sissoko

Tyson Walker