EAST LANSING – Michigan State men’s basketball is hosting Ferris State for an exhibition to open home play for the 2024-25 season on Oct. 29.
“I think we’ve got a good, experienced group,” MSU head coach Tom Izzo said on Oct. 17 at media day. “We’ve seen great improvements out of some guys, Coen, and Book has had great improvements. Jeremy is coming off the injury, which we are happy that he is getting back to 98% physically, now it is the fact he hasn’t played in a year.”
The Spartans had their first exhibition of the season in Marquette at the Superior Dome on Oct. 13. MSU took on Izzo’s alma mater in a matchup that was more than a game. Northern Michigan couldn’t keep up in the end falling 70-53.
“I did not think we played very well up at Northern, but at the same time the distractions that I caused, we’re sitting there with headphones on in the huddle, we did some things that I think ended up very good, but not real normal,” Izzo said on Oct. 17. “It was really good for our players because there were distractions and that’s what you gotta live with.”
Freshman guard Jase Richardson led the team in points, finishing with 11, and sophomore forward Xavier Booker followed with 10. Transfer senior center Szymon Zapala led with nine rebounds. Junior center Carson Cooper and Booker each totaled three blocks.
Scouting Ferris State
FSU took on its Western Michigan rival Calvin in a victorious 83-69 exhibition on Oct. 22. Junior transfer guard Tyler Hamilton led the Bulldogs with 16 points and senior guard Ethan Erickson followed with 15.
Last season, FSU was crowned Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Tournament Champions, knocking down Grand Valley State. Then it got through NMU in the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional Final to ultimately reach the NCAA Division II Elite Eight.
Erickson is the main point producer for the Bulldogs, as he averaged 14.8 points per game last season. Senior forward Deng Reng and senior forward Jimmy Scholler each averaged above four rebounds per game, 4.4 and 4.7 respectively.
The last time these two went head to head was in 2011 when MSU topped FSU 85-58. The Spartans and the Bulldogs are set with a 7 p.m. tip-off at the Breslin Center on Oct. 29.
