No. 15 Michigan State Returns Home to Host UCLA on Tuesday Night at the Breslin Center

Tuesday, February 17

East Lansing, Mich.

8:30 PM

Michigan State University

UCLA

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Photo by: Matthew Mitchell Photography

No. 15 Michigan State Returns Home to Host UCLA on Tuesday Night at the Breslin Center

2/16/2026 8:01:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Game 26 UCLA UCLA Notes Feb17

East Lansing, Mich. – Michigan State returns home for the first of two games this week, hosting UCLA at the Breslin Center on Tuesday, Feb. 17 (8:30 p.m., NBCSN/Peacock).

Tuesday night's game will air live on NBCSN/Peacock, with John Fanta and Jess Settles 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, Matt Steigenga serving as the color analyst and Zach Surdenik as the studio host. The game can also be heard on channel 83 on SiriusXM or on the SiriusXM app.

About the Spartans

Michigan State enters Tuesday's game with a 20-5 overall record (10-4 Big Ten) and is coming off a 92-71 loss at Wisconsin on Friday.
The Spartans are No. 15 in the latest Associated Press Top 25 and ESPN Coaches polls.
MSU is No. 15 in the NCAA Net Rankings, No. 13 per KenPom and are one of 16 schools w/at least six Quad 1 wins and one of 23 schools nationally with at least 10 Quad 1/2 wins.
MSU is No. 10 in the country in assists (18.6 apg), with Jeremy Fears Jr. No. 1 nationally with 9.2 apg.
MSU ranks No. 3 in the country in rebound margin (+12.6) and Jaxon Kohler is second in the B1G, and No. 29 nationally, with 9.3 rpg.
The Spartans are No. 23 nationally in scoring defense (66.7 ppg) and rank No. 7 nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency per KenPom.
MSU ranks No. 10 nationally, and lead the B1G, in fast break points (17.3 ppg).
Through 25 games, MSU has three players scoring in double figures and eight averaging at least 5.0 ppg.
Fears, who leads the team with 31.5 minutes played, leads the team with 15.1 ppg and is handing out 9.2 assists per game, first in Division I ... His 231 total assists rank No. 1 in the country.
Kohler is second on the team in scoring with 12.58 ppg and tops the team with 9.3 rpg (2nd B1G, #28 nationally) ... Kohler, who became the first player in MSU history under Head Coach Izzo to have five-straight double-doubles and ranks No. 22 nationally with 11 this season, has scored in double figures 21 times.
Coen Carr, one of the most athletic players in all of college basketball, is third on the team with 11.7 ppg, third on the team with 5.3 rpg and 1.3 apg in 28.4 mpg.
Carson Cooper, who had 16 points and a career-best 16 rebounds vs. Duke and scored a career-high 19 points at Oregon, is playing a career-high 26.0 minutes, is fourth on the team with 9.9 ppg and second with 7.2 rpg, eighth in the B1G ... He has scored in double figures 13 times.
Jordan Scott, who scored 15 points at Minnesota in his first career start, is averaging 5.6 ppg and 3.2 rpg in 18.6 mpg (7.5 ppg, 3.1 rpg in B1G) and Cam Ward is averaging 5.1 ppg and is fourth on the team with 4.4 rpg.
Kur Teng is averaging 7.0 ppg and 2.1 rpg , while senior guard Trey Fort is tallying 4.0 ppg, redshirt freshman Jesse McCulloch is averaging 2.6 ppg and 1.4 rpg and senior guard Denham Wojcik averages 1.3 assists in 6.0 minutes ... Divine Ugochukwu, out for the season with a left foot injury, averaged 5.1 ppg, 1.5 rpg and 1.6 apg in 16.9 mpg in 22 games.

Defend, Rebound & Run

One of the staples of Michigan State men's basketball under Head Coach Tom Izzo has been to Defend, Rebound & Run.
This year, the Spartans have been doing just that.
MSU ranks No. 23 nationally in scoring defense (66.7 ppg), No. 3 nationally in rebound margin (+12.6), No. 13 in rebounds per game (41.2 rpg) and No. 10 nationally in fast break points per game (17.3 ppg).
In addition, the Spartans rank No. 7 nationally, per KenPom, in adjusted defensive efficiency.

Core Four

MSU Head Coach Tom Izzo has said that the success of the Spartans this season would largely depend on the team's captains, seniors Carson Cooper and Jaxon Kohler, junior Coen Carr and redshirt sophomore Jeremy Fears Jr.
Through 25 games, the team's core four are averaging a combined 49.2 points, 24.4 rebounds and 13.1 assists.
They have accounted for 62.4 percent of the team's points (1,230 of 1,970), 59.3 percent of the team's rebounds (611 of 1,031) and 70.7 percent of the team's assists (328 of 464).

Series History

UCLA leads the all-time series with Michigan State, 8-4.
The Bruins have won the last two games, including a 63-61 win at Pauley Pavilion in the first meeting between the schools as members of the Big Ten.
MSU won a pair of games in 2018 and 2019, posting a 75-62 win in the Maui Invitational on Nov. 27, 2019, and an 87-67 win on Nov. 22, 2018, in the Las Vegas Invitational.
This is UCLA's first visit to the Breslin Center since Dec. 21, 2004, a 76-64 MSU win.
UCLA's first trip to MSU was on Dec. 19, 1952, a game the Bruins won 60-55.
MSU Head Coach Tom Izzo is 3-5 vs. UCLA.