EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State’s men’s basketball team plays its second of three exhibition games on Tuesday, Oct. 20, hosting UConn at the Breslin Center (7 p.m.).

The exhibition features two of the top-five teams in the Associated Press preseason poll, which was released on Monday, with the Spartans ranked No. 5 and the Huskies coming in at No. 4.

The game will tip off at 7 p.m. and will air live on B1G+, with Jacob Maurer, Jack Vohwinkle and Lyric Sloan calling all of the action.

About the Spartans


Michigan State finished the 2025-26 season with a 27-8 overall record, including a 15-5 mark in the Big Ten Conference to tie for second place.
The Spartans were selected to the NCAA Tournament for the 28th-straight season and advanced to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament for the second-straight year and the 17th time under Head Coach Tom Izzo, finishing the year ranked No. 11 in the Associated Press Top 25.
Izzo enters his 32nd season at the helm of the program he has been with for more than 40 years, including his time as an assistant coach.
The Spartans will look to replace six letterwinners, including two starting post players in center Carson Cooper (11.1 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 26.8 mpg) and forward Jaxon Kohler, an All-Big Ten Honorable Mention selection by the league’s coaches (12.5 ppg, 8.9 rpg, team-best 58 3-pointers made).
The cupboard is not bare, by any stretch, as the team welcomes back two players who started every game last year – senior point guard Jeremy Fears Jr., an All-Big Ten First Team selection who earned five different All-American honors last year, and senior forward Coen Carr (12.0 ppg, 5.4 rpg) – as well as a talented group of returning players and newcomers.
Fears was named the Preseason National Player of the Year by Blue Ribbon College Basketball in September and was named the Big Ten Conference’s Preseason Player of the Year on Oct. 8.
Last year, he was one of 10 players selected to the John R. Wooden Award® All-America Team and earned five All-American honors, being named a Second Team All-American by the Associated Press and third team honors from The Sporting News, the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) and the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC).
An All-Big Ten First Team selection, Fears led the team in scoring with 15.2 points per game (No. 17 in the Big Ten) and in assists, with 9.4 per game, which not only ranked first in the Big Ten but was No. 1 in the country.
Carr, who started all 35 games, was third on the team in scoring (12.0 ppg) and rebounding (5.4) and second in minutes played (29.2).
Sophomore forward Jordan Scott started the final 13 games of the season, averaging 5.8 ppg and 3.1 rpg in 20.8 mpg, while junior guard Kur Teng was fifth on the team with 7.3 ppg and 2.0 rpg in 17.4 mpg.

MSU Adds Transfer


Graduate center Anton Bonke comes to East Lansing after one year at Charlotte.
The 7-2, 270-pound center averaged 10.6 ppg and 8.3 rpg while starting 32 of 34 games (25.6 mpg).
Spent his sophomore season in the Big East at Providence College, appearing in 16 games off the bench for the Friars, with one start … He began his career at the junior college level, averaging 9.8 points and 5.8 rebounds at Eastern Arizona College.
Grew up on the island of Efate in Port-Vila and speaks Bislama … A self-taught basketball player who learned the fundamentals of the game watching online videos … He relocated to Davis, Calif. to train and played pickup at local rec centers before connecting with Eastern Arizona.
Bonke is an accomplished international multi-sport athlete who competed in open-water swimming and elite rowing, winning back-to-back gold medals at the Oceania Indoor Rowing Championships and representing Vanuatu at the 2022 World Rowing Junior Championships.

Four Newcomers Make Up Freshman Class


All four of the first-year players – forward Julius Avent, guard Jasiah Jervis, guard Carlos Medlock Jr. and center Ethan Taylor – were ranked among the top-100 players in the country nationally by 247Sports, a class rated No. 15 nationally.
A four-star recruit (No. 34 nationally) out of Archbishop Stepinac, Jervis was named the 2026 New York Gatorade Player of the Year after averaging 17.4 points last season … He hit 38 percent of his 3-point shots across high school career.
Center Ethan Taylor (7-2, 260) was ranked No. 42 nationally by 247 Sports and was teammates with Jervis on the USA Basketball U18 team that won a silver medal at the 2026 FIBA U18 Men’s AmeriCup … Taylor, who has a 7-3 wingspan, was a two-time all-state honorable mention and three-time all-conference selection in Kansas.
Medlock, ranked No. 48 by 247 Sports, averaged 16.9 ppg and 3.1 assists at Link Academy (Mo.), where he was teammates with Taylor.
Avent, the son of former Seton Hall standout Anthony Avent, was ranked No. 89 nationally by 247Sports and was a Second Team All-Non Public School selection in New Jersey … He averaged 14.3 ppg and helped lead Bergen Catholic to a 27-5 record and the 2025 state title.

Incarnate Word Recap


Redshirt sophomore forward Jesse McCulloch scored 20 points and redshirt junior guard Jeremy Fears Jr. had a double-double with 10 points and 13 assists as Michigan State’s men’s basketball team opened the 2026-27 exhibition season with an 89-59 win over the University of the Incarnate Word in the Izzone Campout Game on Oct. 2 at the Breslin Center.
McCulloch hit 8-of-13 shots from the floor, including a pair from 3-point land, while adding five rebounds, one assist and two steals to lead three players in double figures.
Fears scored 10 points, handed out a game-high 12 assists and had six steals, while sophomore forward Jordan Scott added 16 points and five rebounds.

Michigan State Exhibition History


Michigan State and UConn have played nine times during the regular season, including three times in the NCAA Tournament.
The Huskies lead the head-to-head series, 5-4, including a 67-63 win over the Spartans in the Sweet 16 of the 2026 NCAA Tournament.
The Spartans have won two of the last three meetings with a 77-57 win on Nov. 24, 2017, in the PK80 in Portland, Oregon, and a 64-60 victory on Nov. 25, 2021, in the Battle 4 Atlantis in The Bahamas.
MSU beat UConn in the 2009 Final Four at Ford Field in Detroit, 82-73, but fell in the 2014 East Regional Final, 60-54, at Madison Square Garden.
The two teams met in an exhibition on Oct. 28, 2025 in Hartford ahead of the 2025-26 season, with UConn posting a 76-69 win.

Michigan State Exhibition History


The Spartans are playing three exhibition games this year, including the Izzone Campout Game on Friday, Oct. 2, an 89-59 win over Incarnate Word.
Following the game against UConn on Tuesday night, MSU will play at Marquette on Sunday, Oct. 25.
Last year, the Spartans played a pair of Division I schools in exhibition games … MSU beat Bowling Green, 75-66, on Oct. 23, with Coen Carr scoring 17 points and Jeremy Fears Jr. adding 12 points and nine assists … The second game was a 76-69 loss at UConn, with Fears scoring 14 points and handing out six assists.
In recent years, Michigan State has primarily played in-state Division II or III schools, with contests against 10 different schools from the state of Michigan.
The Spartans hosted Tennessee at the Breslin Center in a charity exhibition, an 89-88 loss, ahead of the start of the 2023-24 season.
MSU has played closed scrimmages against Gonzaga (2018-19) and at Tennessee (2022).
Two years, MSU beat Ferris State at the Breslin Center, 85-67, and posted a 70-53 win over Northern Michigan in the Superior Dome Showdown in the Upper Peninsula … The game at Northern Michigan marked the first time that MSU Head Coach Tom Izzo coached the Spartans in a game at his alma mater and NMU retired Izzo’s jersey number during the weekend.

About the Huskies


UConn is coming off a 2025-26 season that finished with a 34-6 overall record and a national runner-up at the Final Four after winning the NCAA East Regional.
Under the direction of ninth-year head coach Danny Hurley, the Huskies have reached six-straight NCAA Tournaments and has reached the Final Four three times in four years … They are one of only four schools, including Michigan State from 1999-01, that have accomplished that during the modern NCAA Tournament era (1979 to present).
UConn returns a strong backcourt, headlined by Big East Preseason Player of the Year, senior guard Silas Demary Jr., and preseason first team all-conference pick, sophomore guard Braylon Mullins.
The Huskies also welcome back is senior forward Jayden Ross, the team’s most-used reserve last year.
UConn’s roster added 10 newcomers, including three freshmen and seven incoming transfers.
The Huskies opened the exhibition season with a 72-52 win over Syracuse.
Na’jai Hines, a Seton Hall transfer, led all scorers with 17 points and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds with two blocks.
He was one of three players in double figures, joined Demary, who had 13 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals, and Duke transfer Nik Khamenia, who scored 12, with eight rebounds, three assists and two steals.

With the 2026-27 schedule now set, there’s no better time to secure your place at the Breslin Center for another season of Spartan Basketball. A limited number of season tickets remain available, giving fans the opportunity to experience every home game and help create the energy and home-court advantage that makes the Breslin Center special. Secure your season tickets HERE and be a part of the action all season long as the Spartans take the floor.