EAST LANSING- After a nine-day break, No. 18 Michigan State men’s basketball prepares to host the Western Michigan Broncos on Monday, December 30.
The Spartans enter Monday’s contest with a 10-2 record overall and a 2-0 record in conference play. Western Michigan currently holds a 3-8 record overall and has yet to play a conference game so far this season.
Michigan State comes into its tilt with the Broncos on a 5-game winning streak, with the most recent victory an 86-69 defeat of Florida Atlantic at home on December 21. The Spartans shot 45% from the field, 38.1% from beyond the arc and outrebounded the Owls 48-36 in the winning effort.
Sophomore forward Coen Carr had his best game of the season so far in that matchup with FAU, scoring a career high and team-leading 18 points and pulling in eight rebounds.
Junior forward Jaxon Kohler led the Spartans in boards with 12 in their last contest, his sixth double-digit rebound performance of the year. He leads the team in rebounds as well, notching right around nine of them per game.
Senior guard Jaden Akins leads Michigan State in scoring this year, averaging 13.3 points a contest for the Spartans. Redshirt freshman guard Jeremy Fears Jr. leads MSU in assists, dishing out an average of 5.9 per outing.
Scouting Western Michigan
Western Michigan fell to Valparaiso in their last outing, losing 76-73 on a half-court buzzer beater by Justus McNair. Junior guard Chansey Willis Jr. led the Broncos scoring column versus the Beacons, as he has done in 2 of his three total appearances so far for WMU. He scored 17 points in the loss.
Redshirt junior guard/forward Markhi Strickland leads the Broncos in PPG this season, averaging 12.5 points per game so far this season. The Broncos are led in the rebounding category by senior forward Owen Lobsinger, who pulls in seven of them per game.
The contest features a coaching connection between both programs. Broncos head coach Dwyane Stephens, now in his third season at WMU, was an assistant coach for 19 seasons under Tom Izzo and played for the Spartans under Jud Heathcote from 1989-93.
Michigan State is 3-0 all time against Western Michigan, with their last matchup taking place on November 12, 2021, at the Breslin Center. The Spartans defeated the Broncos 90-46, behind a 17-point outing from Gabe Brown.
This matchup is set to tip off on Monday at 3 p.m. as the game will be aired on Big Ten Network.
