No. 6 Michigan State Opens 2026-27 Season on Monday, Hosting Quinnipiac at the Breslin Center

EAST LANSING, Mich. – No. 6 Michigan State opens the 2026-27 men's basketball season on Monday night, Nov. 2, hosting Quinnipiac at the Breslin Center (7 p.m.)

The game will be streamed on B1G+, with Jacob Maurer, Charlie Schmidgall and Daphne Bochenek 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, Kevin Pauga serving as the color analyst and Zach Surdenik as the studio host. The game can also be heard on channel 85 on SiriusXM or on the SiriusXM app.

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 – senior 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.

Exhibition Recap

Michigan State played three exhibition games ahead of the start of the regular season, all against Division I schools.
The Spartans opened exhibition play with an 89-59 win over the University of the Incarnate Word on Friday, Oct. 2 in the Izzone Campout Game.
MSU followed that up with a 78-70 loss at home to preseason No. 4 UConn on Tuesday, Oct. 20 and closed exhibition play on Sunday, Oct. 25, losing 86-79 at Marquette.
Through three games, redshirt junior guard Jeremy Fears led four players in double figures, leading the team in scoring, assists and steals, with 17.3 ppg, 9.3 apg and 3.7 spg.
Sophomore forward Jordan Scott was second on the team in scoring and rebounding, averaging 4.7 rpg, led the team with 2.0 blocks per game, and shot 51.7 percent from the floor (15-of-29), including 46.7 percent from 3-point land (7-of-15)
Freshman guard Jasiah Jervis was third on the team with 13.3 ppg, connecting on 55.0 percent of his shots (11-of-20), including 53.3 percent from 3-point land (8-of-15) and redshirt sophomore forward Jesse McCulloch was fourth on the team with 10.7 ppg and added 3.7 rpg.

About Quinnipiac

Quinnipiac enters the 2026-27 season as the preseason favorite in the Metro Conference (formerly Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference), per Blue Ribbon Yearbook.
Under the guidance of Head Coach Tom Pecora, who was an assistant to Jay Wright at Hofstra for seven years, the Bobcats are coming off a 19-13 season in 2025-26, including a 12-8 conference mark to tie for fourth place.
Sophomore forward Keith McKnight, the league's preseason Player of the Year per Blue Ribbon, became the first Bobcat to make the MAAC All-Rookie Team since 2021 … He averaged 11.0 points and 5.9 rebounds last year, while shooting 54.6 percent from the floor.
Quinnipiac lost three underclassmen starters to the transfer portal, the Bobcats added eight newcomers to this year's roster.
Among the transfers are senior Tayeshawn Cunningham-Pemberton, who averaged 14.0 ppg and shot 33.0 percent from 3-point land and junior guard Lucas Sekasi, who averaged 10.9 ppg and 5.1 rpg while helping lead Division II Gannon to the national championship.
Pecora's teams tend to play fast as the Bobcats averaged 11.75 points per game on the fast break last year and were the top scoring offense in conference play, averaging 75.3 ppg.

Against the Bobcats

Monday's game will be the first all-time meeting between Michigan State and Quinnipiac.
The Spartans have a 9-1 all-time record against teams that currently make up the Metro Conference (previously called the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference).
The last time MSU played a team from the Metro Conference was a 96-60 win over Niagara on Nov. 7, 2024 at the Breslin Center.
The last time the Spartans lost to a team from the Metro Conference was a 73-66 decision at St. Peter's on Dec. 1, 1983.

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

Coen Carr

Carson Cooper

Jeremy Fears Jr.

Jasiah Jervis

Jaxon Kohler

Jesse McCulloch

Jordan Scott

Kur Teng

Michigan State University Athletics