After a massive win over No. 10 Baylor on Saturday, Michigan State returns to action as it welcomes the Oakland Golden Grizzlies to the Breslin Center. This game will take place at 7 p.m. Eastern Time on the Big Ten Network. The Golden Grizzlies are 6-5 overall and are coming off a 77-63 win versus Eastern Michigan.

The Spartans sit at 5-5 overall but are coming off a blowout 88-64 win versus then No. 6 Baylor. This game has been somewhat of a tradition and, no matter what is the state or the record of each team, this game almost always seems to be a battle. The Spartans will have to avoid a let down tonight and defend their home court.

Michigan State: Depth Chart and State of the Team

1 - A.J. Hoggard (6’4” Sr.), Tre Holloman (6’2” So.)

2 - Tyson Walker (6’0” Graduate Sr.), Jeremy Fears Jr. (6'2" Fr.)

3 - Jaden Akins (6’4” Jr.), Coen Carr (6’5” Fr.), Gehrig Normand (6'5" Fr.)

4 - Malik Hall (6’8” Graduate Sr.), Xavier Booker (6'11" Fr.)

5 - Carson Cooper (6’11” So.), Mady Sissoko (6’9” Sr.)

Injured: Jaxon Kohler (6’9” So.)

Rankings & Ratings: No. N/A (AP), No. N/A (Coaches), No. 43 (NET), No.23 (Kenpom), No.15 (Barttorvik)

MSU had fans celebrating big time on Saturday following a much needed non-conference victory over a top-10 team. The Spartans were locked in from the opening tip against the Bears and never looked back.

Entering the game, Baylor was one of the best offensive teams in the country and MSU made the team look pedestrian. Tyson Walker led the Spartans in scoring with 25 points, 18 of which came in the first half. Walker’s running mate, A.J. Hoggard, chipped in 14 points and five assists, seemingly controling the game from start to finish.

The version of the Spartans that fans saw against Baylor looked like the team everyone had high aspirations for during the preseason. Now it remains to be seen if Michigan State can build off of what was its best performance of the year thus far.

Oakland: Depth Chart and State of the Team

1 - Rocket Watts (6'2" Sr.), DQ Cole (6'3" Jr.)

2 - Jack Gohlke (6'3" Sr.), Blake Lampman (6'3" Sr.)

3 - Isaiah Jones (6'7" So.)

4 - Trey Townsend (6'6" Jr.)

5 - Chris Conway (6'9" Jr.)

Injured:

Rankings & Ratings: No. N/A (AP), No. N/A (Coaches), No. 100 (NET), No.138 (Kenpom), No.134 (Barttorvik)

Oakland is considered one of the more surprising teams of the season. When you look at the Golden Grizzlies' 6-5 record, you may be unmoved at first glance. But once you look deeper into the team's wins and losses, you will come away impressed.

This is a team that went into the Cintas Center and upset Xavier in a 78-76 road win, which is very hard to do. Oakland also had chances on the road to beat Ohio State and then No. 25 Illinois earlier in the season.

The Golden Grizzlies play really hard and are well coached by Greg Kampe. Oakland also has one of the best players in college basketball that no one talks about enough in junior forward Trey Townsend.

Townsend does it all for this Golden Grizzlies team, and he excels at everything. Townsend leads the team in points (15.8), assists (3.5), rebounds (7.5), and steals (1.5). He uses his 6-foot-7 frame extremely well and is a mismatch for most college forwards. In the frontcourt with Townsend is 6-foot-9 junior forward Chris Conway who pours in 10 points and four rebounds a game to form a very productive frontcourt for the Grizzlies.

In the backcourt, Oakland starts a familiar face to many Spartan fans in senior guard Rocket Watts. Watts started his career in East Lansing before transferring to Mississippi State, and now he finds himself back in his home state starting for the Golden Grizzlies averaging 8.5 ppg and 1.9 apg.

In the backcourt with Watts is graduate guard Jack Gohlke. The guard is a player that pays homage to former Oakland player Max Hooper, because all he wants to do is shoot threes, and Gohlke gets a lot of them up (11.3 attempts per game, hitting 32.3% of those). This Golden Grizzlies team averages just about eight made 3-pointers per game, overall.

Rounding out the starting lineup is sophomore guard/forward Isaiah Jones, who is the perfect utility player to go along with this Oakland team. He does the dirty work but also has the ability to be more than a glue guy if the team needs him to be.

The Spartans must mentally not fall victim to having a letdown game after the big win against Baylor. It will be imperative that MSU also hone in on stopping Trey Townsend, because he is what makes Oakland dangerous, and because he does so many things for his team. Making things difficult for Townsend will make it difficult for Oakland as a team. I expect the Spartans to carry the momentum from Saturday into this game and pick up a win at home.

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