Top-10 Matchup on Saturday Night at the Breslin Center as No. 10 Michigan State Hosts No. 5 Illinois

Saturday, February 7

East Lansing, Mich.

8 PM

Michigan State University

Illinois

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Photo by: Matthew Mitchell Photography

Top-10 Matchup on Saturday Night at the Breslin Center as No. 10 Michigan State Hosts No. 5 Illinois

2/6/2026 4:18:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Game 24 Illinois ILLINI MBB G24 Notes Michigan State 2 7 26 2526 MBB Roster Card Illinois

East Lansing, Mich. – Michigan State returns home to play No. 5 Illinois at the Breslin Center on Saturday, Feb. 7 (FOX, 8 p.m.). The Spartans, coming off a 76-73 road loss at Minnesota on Wednesday, play three of their next four games at home.

Saturday's game will air live on FOX, with Jason Benetti and former Spartan All-American Steve Smith 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 Saturday's game with a 19-4 overall record (9-3 Big Ten) and are coming off a 76-73 loss at Minnesota on Wednesday.
The Spartans are No. 10 in the latest Associated Press Top 25 and ESPN Coaches polls.
MSU is No. 13 in the NCAA Net Rankings, No. 10 per KenPom and are 1 of 14 schools with at least five Quad 1 wins and are 1 of 18 schools nationally with at least 10 Quad 1/2 wins.
MSU is No. 9 in the country in assists (18.8 apg), with Jeremy Fears Jr. No. 2 nationally with 8.9 apg.
MSU ranks No. 2 in the country in rebound margin (+13.3) and Jaxon Kohler is 2nd in the B1G, and No. 31 nationally, with 9.1 rpg.
The Spartans are No. 17 nationally in scoring defense (64.9 ppg) and rank No. 4nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency per KenPom.
MSU ranks No. 15 nationally, and lead the B1G, in fast break points (16.8 ppg).
MSU's captains (Cooper, Kohler, Carr, Fears Jr.) have combined for 62.4% of the team's scoring (1,132 of 1,814 points) and average 49.2, ppg, 24.2 rpg and 13.0 assists.
MSU is 11-2 at home, averaging 80.6 ppg, shooting 46.9% FG and allowing 64.8 ppg.
Through 23 games, MSU has four players scoring in double figures, eight averaging at least 5.0 ppg and 9 averaging at least 10.0 minutes.
Jeremy Fears Jr., who leads the team with 31.0 minutes played, leads the team with 14.7 ppg and is handing out 8.9 assists per game, second in Division I ... His 204 total assists rank No. 1 in the country.
Jaxon Kohler is second on the team in scoring with 12.9 ppg and tops the team with 9.1 rpg (2nd B1G, #31 nationally) ... Kohler, who became the first player in MSU history under Head Coach Izzo to have five-straight double-doubles and ranks No. 21 nationally with 10 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 11.6 ppg, third on the team with 5.3 rpg and 1.4 apg in 28.0 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 25.8 minutes, is fourth on the team with 10.1 ppg and second with 7.2 rpg, ninth 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 5.2 ppg and 3.2 rpg in 17.9 mpg (7.0 ppg, 3.1 rpg in B1G) and Cam Ward is averaging 5.0 ppg and is fourth on the team with 4.4 rpg.
Kur Teng is 6.7 averaging ppg and 2.0 rpg ... Divine Ugochukwu, who had nine points, and set season-highs with six rebounds and six assists at Rutgers, is averaging 5.1 ppg, 1.5 rpg and 1.6 apg in 16.9 mpg.
Senior guard Trey Fort is tallying 4.3 ppg, redshirt freshman Jesse McCulloch is averaging 2.9 ppg and 1.5 rpg and senior guard Denham Wojcik averages 1.4 assists in 6.1 minutes.

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. 17 nationally in scoring defense (64.9 ppg), No. 2 nationally in rebound margin (+13.3), No. 20 in rebounds per game (41.1 rpg) and No. 15 nationally in fast break points per game (16.8 ppg).
In addition, the Spartans rank No. 4 nationally, per KenPom, in adjusted defensive efficiency.

Core Four

MSU Head Coach Tom Izzo has said since the start of the season that the success of the Spartans would largely depend on the team's captains, seniors Carson Cooper and Jaxon Kohler, junior Coen Carr and redshirt sophomore Jeremy Fears Jr.
Through 23 games, the team's core four are averaging a combined 49.2 points, 24.2 rebounds and 13.0 assists.
They have accounted for 62.4 percent of the team's points (1,132 of 1,814), 58.9 percent of the team's rebounds (557 of 945) and 69.1 percent of the team's assists (299 of 433).

Series History

The game on Saturday between Michigan State and Illinois is the 132nd meeting all-time.
Michigan State leads the all-time series, 67-64, including a 42-21 record at home.
Michigan State won both games last year (80-78 at the Breslin Center (1/19) and 79-65 in Champaign (2/15).
Michigan State has won the last three games in the series and the last two at the Breslin Center.
In the last 32 games in the series, 28 games have been decided by 10 points or fewer (average margin is 7.8 ppg and MSU is 15-13 in games decided by 10 points or fewer).
Tom Izzo is 30-22 in his career against the Illini.