Michigan State Visits Marquette on Sunday in Final Exhibition Game

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State's men's basketball team hits the road for its final exhibition game of the preseason, visiting Marquette on Sunday, Oct. 25.

The game will tip off at 1 p.m. (ET) and will air live on YouTube, with Josh Maurer and Jerel McNeal calling all of the action.

This is the third of three exhibition games for MSU, who beat Incarnate Word, 89-59, on Oct. 2 in the Izzone Campout Game, and lost 78-70 to No. 4 UConn on Tuesday.

About the Spartans

Michigan State finished the 2025-26 season with a 27-8 overall record, including a 15-5 mark in the Big Ten Conference to tie for second place.
The Spartans were selected to the NCAA Tournament for the 28th-straight season and advanced to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament for the second-straight year and the 17th time under Head Coach Tom Izzo, finishing the year ranked No. 11 in the Associated Press Top 25.
Izzo enters his 32nd season at the helm of the program he has been with for more than 40 years, including his time as an assistant coach.
The Spartans will look to replace six letterwinners, including two starting post players in center Carson Cooper (11.1 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 26.8 mpg) and forward Jaxon Kohler, an All-Big Ten Honorable Mention selection by the league's coaches (12.5 ppg, 8.9 rpg, team-best 58 3-pointers made).
The cupboard is not bare, by any stretch, as the team welcomes back two players who started every game last year – redshirt junior point guard Jeremy Fears Jr., an All-Big Ten First Team selection who earned five different All-American honors last year, and senior forward Coen Carr (12.0 ppg, 5.4 rpg) – as well as a talented group of returning players and newcomers.
Fears was named the Preseason National Player of the Year by Blue Ribbon College Basketball in September and was named the Big Ten Conference's Preseason Player of the Year on Oct. 8.
Last year, he was one of 10 players selected to the John R. Wooden Award® All-America Team and earned five All-American honors, being named a Second Team All-American by the Associated Press and third team honors from The Sporting News, the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) and the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC).
An All-Big Ten First Team selection, Fears led the team in scoring with 15.2 points per game (No. 17 in the Big Ten) and in assists, with 9.4 per game, which not only ranked first in the Big Ten but was No. 1 in the country.
Carr, who started all 35 games, was third on the team in scoring (12.0 ppg) and rebounding (5.4) and second in minutes played (29.2).
Sophomore forward Jordan Scott started the final 13 games of the season, averaging 5.8 ppg and 3.1 rpg in 20.8 mpg, while junior guard Kur Teng was fifth on the team with 7.3 ppg and 2.0 rpg in 17.4 mpg.

MSU Adds Transfer

Graduate center Anton Bonke comes to East Lansing after one year at Charlotte.
The 7-2, 270-pound center averaged 10.6 ppg and 8.3 rpg while starting 32 of 34 games (25.6 mpg).
Spent his sophomore season in the Big East at Providence College, appearing in 16 games off the bench for the Friars, with one start … He began his career at the junior college level, averaging 9.8 points and 5.8 rebounds at Eastern Arizona College.
Grew up on the island of Efate in Port-Vila and speaks Bislama ... A self-taught basketball player who learned the fundamentals of the game watching online videos … He relocated to Davis, Calif. to train and played pickup at local rec centers before connecting with Eastern Arizona.
Bonke is an accomplished international multi-sport athlete who competed in open-water swimming and elite rowing, winning back-to-back gold medals at the Oceania Indoor Rowing Championships and representing Vanuatu at the 2022 World Rowing Junior Championships.

Four Newcomers Make Up Freshman Class

All four of the first-year players – forward Julius Avent, guard Jasiah Jervis, guard Carlos Medlock Jr. and center Ethan Taylor – were ranked among the top-100 players in the country nationally by 247Sports, a class rated No. 15 nationally.
A four-star recruit (No. 34 nationally) out of Archbishop Stepinac, Jervis was named the 2026 New York Gatorade Player of the Year after averaging 17.4 points last season ... He hit 38 percent of his 3-point shots across high school career.
Center Ethan Taylor (7-2, 260) was ranked No. 42 nationally by 247 Sports and was teammates with Jervis on the USA Basketball U18 team that won a silver medal at the 2026 FIBA U18 Men's AmeriCup ... Taylor, who has a 7-3 wingspan, was a two-time all-state honorable mention and three-time all-conference selection in Kansas.
Medlock, ranked No. 48 by 247 Sports, averaged 16.9 ppg and 3.1 assists at Link Academy (Mo.), where he was teammates with Taylor.
Avent, the son of former Seton Hall standout Anthony Avent, was ranked No. 89 nationally by 247Sports and was a Second Team All-Non Public School selection in New Jersey ... He averaged 14.3 ppg and helped lead Bergen Catholic to a 27-5 record and the 2025 state title.

Spartans Fall Shorts Against UConn in Exhibition, 78-70

No. 6 Michigan State fell behind at the half and narrowed the gap in the second half before No. 4 UConn pulled away en route to a 78-70 win over the Spartans in an exhibition game at the Breslin Center on Tuesday night.
Redshirt junior guard Jeremy Fears Jr. scored 14 points and had seven assists and three steals to lead the Spartans, while freshman guard Jasiah Jervis added 11 points.

Michigan State vs. Marquette All-Time

Michigan State and Marquette have a long history, with the teams first playing in 1922 and most recently playing in the 2023 NCAA Tournament.
In 56 all-time meetings, the Spartans hold the overall series lead, 32-23.
While an exhibition game that won't count in the regular season record, this will be Michigan State's first visit to play at Marquette since 1956 (Feb. 8, 1956, Marquette 90-81).
The last meeting between the teams was a 69-60 MSU win on March 19, 2023 in Columbus, Ohio, advancing the Spartans to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.
Michigan State holds the series lead with Marquette in the NCAA Tournament 3-0, the game in 2007 (a 61-49 MSU win) coming against then-Marquette head coach Tom Crean, who was an assistant at Michigan State to Tom Izzo.

Michigan State Exhibition History

The Spartans are playing three exhibition games this year, including the Izzone Campout Game on Friday, Oct. 2, an 89-59 win over Incarnate Word, and a 78-70 loss at preseason No. 4 UConn on Tuesday night at home.
The Marquette game on Sunday, Oct. 25 is the last of three exhibition games for MSU.
Last year, the Spartans played a pair of Division I schools in exhibition games … MSU beat Bowling Green, 75-66, on Oct. 23, with Coen Carr scoring 17 points and Jeremy Fears Jr. adding 12 points and nine assists … The second game was a 76-69 loss at UConn, with Fears scoring 14 points and handing out six assists.
In recent years, Michigan State has primarily played in-state Division II or III schools, with contests against 10 different schools from the state of Michigan.
The Spartans hosted Tennessee at the Breslin Center in a charity exhibition, an 89-88 loss, ahead of the start of the 2023-24 season.
MSU has played closed scrimmages against Gonzaga (2018-19) and at Tennessee (2022).
Two years, MSU beat Ferris State at the Breslin Center, 85-67, and posted a 70-53 win over Northern Michigan in the Superior Dome Showdown in the Upper Peninsula … The game at Northern Michigan marked the first time that MSU Head Coach Tom Izzo coached the Spartans in a game at his alma mater and NMU retired Izzo's jersey number during the weekend.

About the Golden Eagles

Under the direction of sixth-year head coach Shaka Smart, Marquette returns a trio of starters and eight letterwinners from last year's squad.
The Golden Eagles finished the 2025-26 season with a 12-20 record, including a 7-13 mark in the Big East, tying for seventh place.
The game against MSU is the only scheduled exhibition games for Marquette, who opens the 2026-27 season on Nov. 2, hosting Mercyhurst.
Big East Freshman of the Year Nigel James Jr. highlights Marquette's trio of returning starters.
He finished fourth in the league in scoring (16.4 ppg) and assists (4.9 apg) and was fifth in the league in steals (1.9 spg) … James scored at least 30 points in three games and had 10 games with at least 20 points.
Marquette also returns junior forward Royce Parham, who scored 14.4 ppg and grabbed 5.0 rpg while shooting 57.3 percent from the floor.
Sophomore guard Adrien Stevens started 23 times in 32 games and averaged 7.9 ppg to former a talented backcourt with James.

With the 2026-27 schedule now set, there's no better time to secure your place at the Breslin Center for another season of Spartan Basketball. A limited number of season tickets remain available, giving fans the opportunity to experience every home game and help create the energy and home-court advantage that makes the Breslin Center special. Secure your season tickets HERE and be a part of the action all season long as the Spartans take the floor.

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Players Mentioned

Julius Avent

Anton Bonke

Coen Carr

Carson Cooper

Jeremy Fears Jr.

Jasiah Jervis

Jaxon Kohler

Carlos Medlock Jr.

Jordan Scott

Ethan Taylor

Kur Teng

Michigan State University Athletics