EAST LANSING – Michigan State men’s basketball closes the regular season against the 2026 Big Ten Champion Michigan Wolverines at the Crisler Center on Sunday.
Michigan got the best of MSU in the first matchup, 83-71, at the Breslin Center in January. The Spartans won on the margins in the first game, but an early deficit and the inability to connect on three-pointers led to the first loss against the Wolverines in three seasons.
Michigan already has the one seed locked up for the Big Ten Tournament, and most likely the same for the NCAA Tournament. However, there is still a lot on the line on Sunday for the Spartans.
A win for the Green and White will solidify the two seed in the conference tournament and even possibly an outside chance at a one seed in the NCAA Tournament, after UConn lost to Marquette on Saturday.
MSU head coach Tom Izzo is eager to play the game even if the conference title is already wrapped up.
“We’re looking forward to letting it all hang out, there’s nothing else we have to do,” Izzo said. “We’re not playing for a Big Ten Championship. Ironically, they’re not playing for it, they already won it, but you’re playing for a lot when you’re playing this game.”
For the Spartans’ depth, freshman forward Cam Ward was not much of a factor in the first game, playing only eight minutes in the midst of a wrist injury that hampered some of his development in the middle of the season.
Over the last six games, Ward has been consistently playing 20 minutes off the bench and Izzo thinks he can be a big factor in the second meeting.
“Cam brings another dimension to it because he’s a powerful rebounder, but he can also guard,” Izzo said.
After the emotions of senior night, with four generations of Kohlers in attendance, senior forward Jaxon Kohler has begun to harness his emotions into production on the court.
“When my grandpa was out there, it was really hard to balance the emotions I had right before playing a game,” Kohler said. But if there’s anything I’ve learned from my senior year, it’s to feel all the feelings, have all of the emotions, embrace them instead of trying to suppress them…and with what we have ahead of us, there’s more than enough motivation to go around.”
Kohler has averaged 18 points and 10 rebounds per game in his last two starts, shooting the ball efficiently, with a 56 percent field goal percentage.
Tip-off for the in-state battle between Michigan State and Michigan from the Crisler Center in Ann Arbor is set for 4:30 p.m. Catch the radio broadcast with Jack Stager and Joe Dez on Impact 89FM, streaming live on our website: https://impact89fm.org/listenlive/
