EAST LANSING– Michigan State men’s basketball (3-1) is hosting Samford (4-1) tonight to close out its home stand before heading to the Maui Invitational in Hawaii.
MSU bounced back after losing to No. 1 Kansas at the Champions Classic on Nov. 12 with a double-digit win, 86-72, over Bowling Green on Nov. 16. Seven Spartans scored in double-digit figures against the Falcons.
Senior guard Jaden Akins currently leads MSU in scoring, averaging 12 points per game. Senior forward Frankie Fidler and junior forward Jaxon Kohler follow Akins, each with 11.8 points per game.
Kohler leads the Spartans in rebounds with 8.5 per game and redshirt freshman Jeremy Fears Jr. leads in assists with 6.8 assists per game. Overall, MSU ranks No. 20 nationally in free throw shooting percentage with 80% (84-105).
Scouting Samford
This will be the first meeting between MSU and Samford. The Bulldogs have played Big Ten opponents before and have a 1-9 all-time record against B1G opponents.
Samford is currently on a three-game win hot streak. Most recently, the Bulldogs took down Texas Southern, 97-82, and put up its best shooting performance this season making 20 of its 44 attempts from behind the arc.
Junior forward Jaden Brownell currently leads Samford in points with 15.6 points per game. Senior guard Trey Fort and Brownell lead in rebounds with five per game. Graduate guard Rylan Jones leads with 33 assists.
Bench depth is a strong suit for the Bulldogs. Samford is tied for No. 13 nationally for points off the bench with an average of 42 a game. MSU ranks No. 17 with 41.25 bench points per game.
These two teams will go head-to-head tonight with the tipoff set for 8 p.m. Tune into the live game broadcast featuring Matt Merrifield and Allie Cohen at impact89fm.org/?radio_player=2.
