No. 13 Michigan State Travels for Thursday Night Matchup with No. 8 Purdue

Thursday, February 26

West Lafayette, Ind.

8 PM

Michigan State University

Purdue

Photo by: Matthew Mitchell Photography

No. 13 Michigan State Travels for Thursday Night Matchup with No. 8 Purdue

2/25/2026 1:35:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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East Lansing, Mich. – Michigan State starts a challenging stretch over the final two weeks of the regular season, with three of four games on the road, starting on Thursday, Feb. 26 at Purdue (8 p.m., NBCSN/Peacock). The Spartans, who have won three of the last four games, are coming off a 66-60 win over Ohio State on Sunday.

Thursday night's game will air live on NBCSN (Peacock), with Brandon Gaudin and Robbie Hummel 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 channels 146 or 195 on SiriusXM or on the SiriusXM app.

About the Spartans

Michigan State enters Thursday's game with a 22-5 overall record (12-4 Big Ten) following a 66-60 win over Ohio State.
The Spartans are No. 13 in the latest Associated Press Top 25 and ESPN Coaches polls.
MSU is No. 12 in the NCAA Net Rankings, No. 9 per KenPom and are one of 21 schools w/at least six Quad 1 wins and are one of 16 schools nationally with at least 12 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.
The Spartans rank No. 3 in the country in rebound margin (+12.7) and Jaxon Kohler is second in the B1G (No. 28 nationally) with 9.3 rpg.
Michigan State is No. 20 nationally in scoring defense (66.1 ppg) and ranks No. 6 nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency per KenPom.
MSU ranks No. 11 nationally, and leads the B1G, in fast break points (16.7 ppg).
The team's captains (Carson Cooper, Kohler, Coen Carr, Fears Jr.) have combined for 64.4% of the team's scoring (1,364 of 2,118 points) and average 50.5 ppg, 24.5 rpg and 13.1 assists.
Through 27 games, MSU has four players scoring in double figures and eight averaging at least 5.0 ppg.
Fears, who leads the team with 31.7 minutes played, leads the team with 15.0 ppg and is handing out 9.2 assists per game, first in Division I ... His 249 total assists rank No. 1 in the country.
Kohler is second on the team in scoring with 12.3 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. 25 nationally with 11 this season, has scored in double figures 21 times.
Carr, one of the most athletic players in all of college basketball, is third on the team with 11.6 ppg, third on the team with 5.3 rpg and 1.3 apg in 28.5 mpg.
Cooper, who had 16 points and a career-best 16 rebounds vs. Duke and scored a career-high 20 points against Ohio State, is playing a career-high 26.3 minutes, is fourth on the team with 10.3 ppg and second with 7.4 rpg, seventh in the B1G ... He has scored in double figures 15 times.
Jordan Scott, who scored 15 points at Minnesota in his first career start, is averaging 6.0 ppg and 3.3 rpg in 19.3 mpg (8.0 ppg and 3.2 rpg in 21.5 mpg in B1G) and Cam Ward is averaging 5.0 ppg and is fourth on the team with 4.3 rpg.
Kur Teng is averaging 7.0 ppg and 2.0 rpg, while senior guard Trey Fort is tallying 3.9 ppg, redshirt freshman Jesse McCulloch is averaging 2.5 ppg and 1.4 rpg and senior guard Denham Wojcik averages 1.3 assists in 5.8 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. 20 nationally in scoring defense (66.1 ppg), No. 3 nationally in rebound margin (+12.7), No. 12 in rebounds per game (41.1 rpg) and No. 11 nationally in fast break points per game (16.7 ppg).
In addition, the Spartans rank No. 6 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 27 games, the team's core four are averaging a combined 50.5 points, 24.5 rebounds and 13.1 assists.
They have accounted for 64.4 percent of the team's points (1,364 of 2,118), 59.6 percent of the team's rebounds (662 of 1,111) and 70.3 percent of the team's assists (353 of 502).

Have No Fears

MSU Head Coach Tom Izzo has used the name Mateen Cleaves when referring to redshirt sophomore guard Jeremy Fears Jr. ... Cleaves, of course, was one of Izzo's first point guards, a leader on the 2000 NCAA Championship team and led MSU all-time in assists until Cassius Winston broke the record in 2019.
Fears handed out a career-best 13 assists in a win over then-No. 12 Kentucky, matched that number in a loss to then-No. 4 Duke and broke both those games with 17 assists against Maryland – a career-best and the second-most in a single game in MSU history ... When he handed out 15 against Illinois, he became the first player in MSU history with two games of at least 15 assists.
He has nine double-doubles and 12 games with at least 10 dimes.
Fears ranks first in Division I with 9.2 assists per game and has handed out a nation's-best 249 total assists ... He is No. 1 in the country in assist rate at 53.9 percent (per KenPom).
When he handed out 11 at Minnesota, he became one of 10 players in MSU history with at least 200 in a season and the first since Winston in 2018-19 (291).
He handed out 10 vs. UCLA, his fourth-straight game with at least 10, the first major conference player to hand out at least 10 in four-straight games since North Carolina State's Markell Johnson did so in 2018.
His current total of 249 assists ranks tied for fourth-best single-season mark at Michigan State and he needs 21 more to pass Earvin Johnson (269, 1978-79) for third all-time.
Fears has scored or assisted on 59.2 percent of MSU's points when he is on the floor (1,007 of 1,701), per CBBAnalytics.

Series History

When Michigan State and Purdue play on Thursday, it will be the 135th meeting in program history.
Purdue leads the all-time series with Michigan State, 76-58, and has won five of the last six games and nine of the last 11 overall.
The Spartans are 18-47 on the road against the Boilermakers.
MSU has lost the last seven games played at Mackey Arena, its last win a 94-79 decision on Feb. 20, 2014.
Tom Izzo is 29-25 in his career against Purdue.