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Published Jan 28, 2025
Michigan State Men's Basketball: Minnesota Preview II
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Carter Elliott  •  Spartans Illustrated
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The No. 7 Michigan State Spartans look to finish out the month of January undefeated in the Big Ten as they welcome in the Minnesota Golden Gophers. The teams will be meeting for the second time in as many months Tuesday night.

The Spartans are coming off an 81-74 win over Rutgers while the Golden Gophers are coming off a 77-69 victory over Oregon. In the two teams' first meeting, MSU was able to get a 90-72 win in Minneapolis, so the Spartans will be looking to complete the season sweep at the Breslin Center.

This game will start at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time and is being streamed exclusively on Peacock.

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Michigan State: Depth Chart and State of the Team

1 - Jeremy Fears Jr. (6’2” RS Fr.)

2 - Jaden Akins (6’4” Sr.), Jase Richardson (6'3" Fr.), Kur Teng (6'4" Fr.)

3 - Tre Holloman (6’2” Jr.), Frankie Fidler (6’7” Sr.), Gehrig Normand (6'5" RS Fr.)

4 - Jaxon Kohler (6’9” Jr.), Xavier Booker (6'11" So.), Coen Carr (6’5” So.)

5 - Szymon Zapala (7'0" Sr.), Carson Cooper (6’11” So.), Jesse McCulloch (6''10" Fr., expected to redshirt)

The Spartans continued their winning ways as they were able to pick up a road victory versus Rutgers at Madison Square Garden to stay undefeated in league play eight games into the schedule. The win came behind a career high 20 points from freshman guard Jase Richardson.

As always, the Michigan State bench was once again spectacular in this game as Coen Carr added 14 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Even more impressive than Carr's offensive output was what he did on the defensive end against Scarlet Knights star and projected NBA lottery pick Ace Bailey. Bailey did get 18 points, but it came on 4-for-17 shooting as he struggled to get off good looks when guarded by Carr.

In the first meeting of the season between these two teams Jaxon Kohler had a double double while Xavier Booker and Carr combined for 23 points.

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Minnesota: Depth Chart and State of the Team

1 - Lu'yce Patterson (6'2" Sr.)

2 - Mike Mitchell Jr. (6'2" Sr.), Isaac Asuma (6'3" Fr.)

3 - Femi Odukale (6'6" Sr.)

4 - Dawson Garcia (6'11" Sr.), Frank Mitchell (6'8" Jr.),

5 - Parker Fox (6'8" Sr.) Trey Edmonds (6'10" Sr.)

Minnesota and head coach Ben Johnson are a team that is near the bottom of the Big Ten in the standings, but you could make an argument that the Gophers are one of the hotter teams in the Big Ten. UM is coming into this game on a three-game win streak that includes victories over Michigan, Iowa, and Oregon.

Minnesota has one of the best players in the Big Ten in senior Dawson Garcia. Garcia is — for lack of a more nuanced term — a monster. He averages 19 points and seven rebounds per game, and has scored 31, 20, 27, 21, and 22 in his last five games, respectively. Garcia is currently on a tear and will have to be a focal point defensively for the Spartans.

Things that have also been a component of this win streak for the Gophers iis Garcia is getting help from his supporting cast that he was not getting early in the season. Parker Fox is an athletic and energetic big that does all of the dirty work, mixing things up when needed. In the backcourt, Lu'cye Patterson and Mike Mitchell Jr. are very streaky shot makers, but if they get it going early, they can pour in buckets in bunches.

Game Breakdown and Prediction

The Spartans greatest team attribute is that they are a team that has many different guys who they can rely on from a night-to-night basis. This makes it tough to prepare for MSU defensively, but it also makes it tough to play against them on the other end a swell because they can throw many different bodies at opposing players defensively.

This makes it tough for teams like Minnesota to beat the Michigan State because the Gophers are so dependent on one player. The Spartans have the personnel to make things difficult for Garcia, which I think in turn will make it difficult for UM to pull this upset on the road.

Prediction: Michigan State 80, Minnesota 60

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Michigan State Men's Basketball 2024-2025 Schedule
+State Farm Champions Classic, *Maui Jim Maui Invitational
DateOpponentLocationTime (ET)/TVResults

Sun. Oct. 13

at Northern MI (Exh)

Marquette, MI

1 pm/BTN

70-53, MSU

Tue. Oct. 29

Ferris State (Exh)

East Lansing, MI

7 pm/B1G+

85-67, MSU

Mon. Nov. 4

Monmouth

East Lansing, MI

7 pm/B1G+

81-57, MSU,
1-0

Thur. Nov. 7

Niagara

East Lansing, MI

8 pm/BTN

96-60, MSU, 2-0

Tue. Nov. 12

vs. Kansas+

Atlanta, GA

6:30 pm/ ESPN

69-77, KU, 2-1

Sat. Nov. 16

Bowling Green

East Lansing, MI

6 pm/BTN

86-72, MSU, 3-1

Tue. Nov. 19

Samford

East Lansing, MI

8 pm/ Peacock

83-75, MSU, 4-1

Tue. Nov. 25

vs. Colorado*

Lahaina, Maui, HI

5 pm/ ESPN2

72-56, MSU, 5-1

Wed. Nov. 26

vs. Memphis

Lahaina, Maui, HI

6 pm/ ESPN

71-63, MEM, 5-2

Thur. Nov. 27

vs. UNC

Lahaina, Maui, HI

9:30 pm/ ESPN 2

94-1, MSU, 6-2

Wed. Dec. 4

at Minnesota

Minneapolis, MN

8:30 pm/ BTN

90-72, MSU,
7-2 (1-0)

Thur. Dec. 7

Nebraska

East Lansing, MI

Noon/BTN

89-52, MSU 8-2 (2-0)

Tue. Dec. 17

vs. Oakland

Detroit, MI

7 pm/ ESPN2

77-58, MSU
9-2 (2-0)

Sat. Dec. 21

Florida Atlantic

East Lansing, MI

2 pm/FS1

83-68, MSU
10-2 (2-0)

Mon. Dec. 30

Western Michigan

East Lansing, MI

3 pm/BTN

80-62, MSU
11-2 (2-0)

Fri. Jan. 3

at Ohio State

Columbus, OH

8 pm/FOX

69-62, MSU
12-2 (3-0)

Thur. Jan. 9

Washington

East Lansing, MI

8 pm/BTN

88-54, MSU
13-2 (4-0)

Sun. Jan. 12

at Northwestern

Evanston, IL

Noon/4:30 pm
FOX

78-68, MSU
14-2 (5-0)

Wed. Jan. 15

Penn State

East Lansing, MI

7:30 pm /BTN

90-85, MSU
15-2 (6-0)

Sun. Jan. 19

Illinois

East Lansing, MI

Noon/CBS

80-78, MSU
16-2 (7-0)

Sat. Jan. 25

at Rutgers

New York, NY

1:30 pm /CBS

81-74, MSU
17-2 (8-0)

Tue. Jan. 28

Minnesota

East Lansing, MI

8 pm/ Peacock

Sat. Feb. 1

at USC

Los Angeles, CA

4:30 pm/ Peacock

Tue. Feb. 4

at UCLA

Los Angeles, CA

10 pm/ Peacock

Sat. Feb. 8

Oregon

East Lansing, MI

Noon/FOX

Tue. Feb. 11

Indiana

East Lansing, MI

9 pm/ Peacock

Sat. Feb. 15

at Illinois

Champaign, IL

8 pm/FOX

Tue. Feb. 18

Purdue

East Lansing, MI

7 pm/ Peacock

Fri. Feb. 21

at Michigan

Ann Arbor, MI

8 pm/FOX

Wed. Feb. 26

at Maryland

College Park, MD

6:30 pm/BTN

Sun. March 2

Wisconsin

East Lansing, MI

1:30 pm/CBS

Thu. March 6

at Iowa

Iowa City, IA

8 pm/FS1

Sun. March 9

Michigan

East Lansing, MI

Noon/CBS

March 12-16

Big Ten Tournament

Indianapolis, IN

Varies by day

MichiganState
FOOTBALL
Scores / Schedule
footballfootball
22 - 5
Overall Record
13 - 3
Conference Record
Finished
Michigan
62
Michigan
Michigan St.
75
Arrow
Michigan St.
Michigan St.
75
Arrow
Michigan St.
Purdue
66
Purdue
Illinois
65
Illinois
Michigan St.
79
Arrow
Michigan St.
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