The No. 19/19 Michigan State Spartans return to Big Ten play on Sunday looking to get back into the win column after suffering the first defeat of the season. In the way of that is one of eight remaining undefeated teams in the country, No. 8/8 Maryland. The Terps sit at 11-0 as they are set to host the Spartans in College Park.

The game will be at 1 p.m. Eastern Time at the XFINITY Center and can be streamed on B1G+.

With both the men and women ranked in the AP Top 25 Poll, the Spartans are also one of just eight schools to boast both in the rankings. Just one other Big Ten program, UCLA, can also say that, joining the others that consist of UConn, Duke, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Ole Miss, and Kentucky.

The Spartans saw a program-best 11-0 start end with a loss to then RV/No. 24 Alabama in West Palm Beach last time out. The 82-67 defeat to the Crimson Tide snapped a regular season win streak dating back to Feb. 18, 2024 last season when MSU downed Michigan in Ann Arbor, 70-66. Michigan State sits at 11-1 now and 1-0 in Big Ten play.

Currently MSU sits at No. 13 in the early NET rankings with one true road win at Western Michigan and a home victory in early conference action over then No. 21 Iowa. MSU also boasts neutral court wins over Vanderbilt (No. 12 NET) and California (No. 28) in the Acrisure Classic last month. The Terps, by comparison, sit at No. 22 in the NET, but boast three true road wins.

Michigan State currently ranks No. 13 in scoring offense in the country and No. 3 in the Big Ten, averaging 85.6 points per game. The team gets there via selfless play, sitting at No. 2 in assists per game at 19.3. Similar to the men's team, the Spartans also see big contributions from the full roster as the bench averages 31.2 ppg, good for No. 17 in the NCAA.

Defensively the Spartans set a school record against Montana in the West Palm Beach Classic, not allowing the Lady Griz to shoot a single free throw while committing just 11 fouls. That was the second lowest of the year in total fouls, trailing the 10 committed against WMU. MSU also sits at No. 34 in the NCAA in scoring defense and No. 5 in the league, holding opponents to just 55.3 ppg and a mere 34.8% field goal percentage (No. 18 in the NCAA).

At the individual player level, graduate guard Julia Ayrault is averaging 16.6 ppg and 7.3 rebounds per game on the season, good for 10th and 19th best in the Big Ten to date. She's been scoring double-figures in her last 24 games — including in all 11 games played by her this season — and has posted 10+ points in 51 career games overall.

Not far behind Ayrault in the standings is junior forward Grace VanSlooten with 14.4 ppg (18th in B1G) and just ahead of her with 7.7 rpg (T-15th in B1G).

In the backcourt, junior guard Theyrn Hallock is posting 11.9 ppg (31st in B1G) and 3.3 assists per game (T-16th in B1G) while graduate guard Nyla Hampton is tied for third in the league in steals, averaging 2.4 per game.

Maryland will also be returning to conference play when the Terrapins host the Spartans at XFINITY Center on Sunday. The undefeated Terps boast wins over No. 11 Duke and a road victory at Syracuse in November in addition to a victory at Purdue earlier this month.

UMD has long-time head coach Brenda Frese at the helm in her 23rd season. She boasts a 593-161 record in College Park and overall posts a 650-191 record over 26 seasons that include stops at Ball State and Minnesota as well.

The Terps feature five players averaging double figures in scoring. Junior Guard Kaylene Smikle leads the team with 17.7 ppg, good for No. 8 in the Big Ten. After Smikle, a bevy of players sit just inside the margin with senior guard Shyanne Sellers second on the team with 11.8 ppg. Sellers also sits second in the Big Ten with helpers, averaging 5.5 per game.

The other three players are senior forward Christina Dalce (10.4 ppg), junior guard Bri McDaniel (10.1 ppg) and graduate forward Allie Kubek (10.1 ppg). UMD sits at No. 2 in the league in scoring offense, averaging 86.2 ppg.

Michigan State trails Maryland in the series a lopsided 18-3. The Spartans finally snapped a seven-game losing streak last season in East Lansing with a 74-69 victory, but will have history against them in College Park where MSU trails 7-1 all-time. MSU's lone victory at XFINITY Center came in 2018 with an 82-68 win.

A big time third quarter helped propel Michigan State to the win in its last meeting with Maryland. That win on Jan. 9, 2024 saw four players finish in double figures for the Spartans in just the third-ever win over the Terps. Ayrault finished that game with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Graduate guard Moira Joiner also added 20 points with four assists and four rebounds. Junior guard DeeDee Hagemann scored 12 points and posted the game-high of seven assists, while sophomore guard Theryn Hallock added 14 points off the bench.

Several Spartans will need to step up this season to have a chance at two in a row in the series as Joiner (exhausted eligibility) and Hagemann (transferred) are no longer with the Spartans.

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