EAST LANSING— No. 16 Michigan State men’s basketball will host Washington on Thursday evening for the first Big Ten Conference matchup between the two teams since the conference realignment.
MSU is on a seven-game hot streak, most recently taking down Ohio State on Jan. 3, winning 69-62. The Spartans are 3-0 in Big Ten play and have defended home court this season 7-0.
In Columbus, senior center Szymon Zapala put up a season-high of 15 points and led in scoring for the first time this season. Senior guard Jaden Akins and sophomore forward Coen Carr also put up double figures in the scoring column with 14 and 11 respectively.
Junior forward Jaxon Kohler led MSU in rebounds with 10 and redshirt freshman guard Jeremy Fears Jr. led in assists with seven. The Spartans shot 43.6% in the paint, 16.7% from behind the arc and 81.8% from the free throw line against the Buckeyes.
MSU and Washington have only met once before in men’s basketball back in the 2010 Maui Invitational. The Spartans topped the Huskies 76-71.
Scouting Washington
Washington is currently 1-3 in B1G play and currently on a one game losing streak after back-to-back wins over New Jersey Institute of Technology and then-No. 24 Maryland. As of late, Washington fell to then-No. 20 Illinois 81-77 on Jan. 5.
Against the Fighting Illini, the Huskies were led by senior guard Luis Kortright in scoring with 10. Kortright was followed by senior forward Great Osobor and freshman guard Vazoumana Diallo with nine and eight respectively.
Senior forward Wilhelm Breidenbach led Washington in rebounds with six and Diallo led in assists with seven. The Huskies shot 43.1% in the paint, 38.5% from behind the arc and 78.6% from the free throw line against the Fighting Illini.
Osobor, sophomore guard Tyler Harris and Diallo are averaging in double-digits with 14.3 points per game,12.1 and 10.9 respectively. Osobor also has the leading average in rebounds with 8.7 per game and assists with 3.5 per game.
The matchup is set for Thursday at 8 p.m. Tune into the live radio broadcast featuring Matt Merrifield and Allie Cohen locally on 88.9 FM or at impact89fm.org/listen-live/.
