Michigan State Returns to Detroit, Plays Oakland at Little Caesars Arena on Tuesday Night

East Lansing, Mich. – Michigan State's men's basketball team returns to the court for the first time in 10 days, making its shortest road trip of the season thus far, visiting Oakland at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Tuesday, Dec. 17 (7 p.m., ESPN2).

The game will air live on ESPN2, with John Schriffen and Jon Crispin 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 384 on SiriusXM and on the SiriusXM app.

About the Spartans

Michigan State enters Tuesday's game with an 8-2 overall record (2-0 B1G).
The Spartans, winners of three-straight games and six of the last seven, are ranked No. 20 in the Associated Press poll and No. 19 in the USA Today Coaches poll.
The Spartans are ranked No. 27 in the NCAA Net Rankings, No. 18 per KenPom.com and No. 17 in the ESPN BPI.
The Spartans opened Big Ten Conference play with a pair of wins, the last an 89-52 win over Nebraska on Dec. 7, with senior guard Jaden Akins scoring 18 points to lead three players in double figures.
MSU has three players scoring in double figures, seven averaging at least 7.0 ppg and 10 scoring at least 4.6 ppg.
Akins leads the team with 13.0 ppg and is second with 4.6 rpg, while freshman guard Jase Richardson is averaging 10.3 ppg and senior forward Frankie Fidler is averaging 10.2 ppg.
Junior forward Jaxon Kohler is scoring 8.4 ppg and leads the team with 8.3 rebounds per game, 7th in the Big Ten.
Redshirt freshman guard Jeremy Fears Jr. is averaging 7.6 points and a team-leading 5.9 assists per game, which ranks 5th in the Big Ten, while junior Tre Holloman adds 7.7 points and 4.0 assists (9th in B1G).
MSU is averaging 24.0 FT attempts per game after going to the line 17.2 times per game in 2023-24.
The Spartans rank No. 8 in the country in bench points per game (39.2 ppg) and are No. 2 in the country in fast break points per game (20.5 ppg).

About the Golden Grizzlies

Oakland enters the game on Tuesday night with a 3-5 overall record following a 66-50 loss at Youngstown State on Dec. 7.
Like the Spartans, the Golden Grizzlies will be playing their first game in 10 days.
Oakland opened the season with four losses in its first five games, three of them on the road – at Boise State (87-43), at Illinois (66-54) and at Kansas (78-57).

Series History

Michigan State and Oakland meet for the 23rd time in program history.
The Spartans lead the head-to-head series, 22-0, including a 7-0 record on neutral floors.
The Spartans beat the Golden Grizzlies last year, 79-62, at the Breslin Center.
The teams first played on Nov. 17, 1998 at Oakland, a 98-66 MSU win.
MSU and Oakland have played in each of the last 12 seasons and 18 of the last 19 overall.

At Little Caesars Arena

Michigan State returns to play in Motown for the seventh time.
The Spartans have a 5-1 all-time record at Little Caesars Arena.
MSU's last game at LCA was an 88-64 win over then-No. 6 Baylor in the Motor City Invitational ... Tyson Walker scored a game-high 25 points to lead three players in double figures in that game, current Spartan Tre Holloman scoring 11 points.
This will be the fourth time Michigan State has played the Golden Grizzlies at the home of the Detroit Pistons ... The teams last played in Motown on Dec. 21, 2021, a 90-78 Spartans win.
Previous meetings included a 72-49 win on Dec. 14, 2019 and the first game at LCA was an 86-73 Michigan State win on Dec. 16, 2017 ... Then-sophomore guard Cassius Winston scored all of his 19 points in the second half and Michigan State used a 12-2 run late in the game to pull away for the win.
The Spartans were the No. 2 seed in the 2018 NCAA Tournament held at LCA, beating Bucknell in the first round and falling to Syracuse in the second round.

Michigan State Returns to Detroit, Plays Oakland at Little Caesars Arena on Tuesday Night

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jaden Akins

Jeremy Fears Jr.

Frankie Fidler

Tre Holloman

Jaxon Kohler

Jase Richardson

Tyson Walker

Michigan State Returns to Detroit, Plays Oakland at Little Caesars Arena on Tuesday Night

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jaden Akins

Jeremy Fears Jr.

Frankie Fidler

Tre Holloman

Jaxon Kohler

Jase Richardson

Tyson Walker

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