Men vs. Penn State; Women @ Rutgers
Tomorrow marks a busy day of Spartan Basketball as the men host Penn State (7:30 PM, Big Ten Network) and the women travel to Rutgers (7:00 PM, streaming on Big Ten +).
After taking care of Northwestern in Evanston on Sunday, men’s basketball returns home to face the Nittany Lions on a nine-game winning streak. MSU is 14-2 overall and tied with Michigan atop the Big Ten standings at 5-0. The Spartans are 8-0 at the Breslin Center on the season.
Penn State comes in at 12-5 overall, 2-4 in the conference, and 1-2 in true road games. The Lions have generally been competitive but have dropped three in a row since opening 2025 with an 84-80 victory at home against Northwestern. They fell by six to Indiana in the Palestra in Philadelphia, got smoked by nearly 40 in Champaign, IL, and lost 82-81 in a back-and-forth game on Sunday against #13 Oregon at home.
Penn State’s best win so far was against then #8 and current #17 Purdue back on December 5, defeating the Boilermakers 81-70 in the Bryce-Jordan Center. This was followed by another close loss, 80-76 at Rutgers on December 10. In out-of-conference games against Power 4 opponents, Penn State defeated Virginia Tech 86-64 on November 15 and fell to Clemson 75-67 on November 25.
Mike Rhoades is in his second season coaching Penn State, leading the Lions to a 16-17 record last year, including 9-11 in the Big Ten. His first recruiting class at PSU ranked in the top 25. Prior to Penn State, Rhoades spent six seasons at VCU and made the NCAA tournament three times.
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Penn State and MSU are reasonably close in several statistical areas including:
- Scoring margin: MSU +15.3; PSU +13.8
- Points per game: MSU 81.3; PSU 84.4
- FG%: MSU 47.8; PSU 48.6
- Assists: MSU 18.2; PSU 17.1
- Assists:TO rate: MSU 1.47; PSU 1.46
Michigan State rebounds it better (41.1 – 36.2) but Penn State gets 9.6 steals per game, which is tops in the Big Ten, to MSU’s 5.9. Ball security will again be key for the Spartans. Even after being limited in the break against Northwestern, MSU is still second in the country at 19 fast break points per game. Penn State, at 14.3 per game, can also look to run if given the chance.
The Lions appear to have a pretty balanced offensive attack with six players averaging in double figures points and going eight deep in 10+ minutes played per game. Guard Ace Baldwin Jr. leads Penn State in both categories with 13.9 points in 31.6 minutes per game.
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Baldwin is a grad transfer in his second year at PSU after spending three seasons with Rhoades at VCU. He also leads Penn State with eight assists per game and hits 94.5% from the free throw line, earning nearly six attempts per game. Guarding Baldwin without fouling may be a key, as he isn’t a great shooter otherwise, hitting just 37.1% of his shots, including 28.6% beyond the arc. He also turns it over nearly four times a game. If Jeremy Fears and Tre Holloman can keep Baldwin in check, this could be a huge advantage for MSU.
On the women’s side, MSU is 13-3 overall and 3-2 in conference. They are tied with Washington, who MSU just beat on Sunday, for eighth place in the Big Ten. MSU is 2-2 in their last four games. They fell to #8 Maryland by six on December 29. The Spartans had a rough first quarter, falling behind 20-11, but were otherwise pretty even with the Terrapins.
After the Maryland game, the Spartans rebounded to defeat Purdue by 18 at home and fell by five at Nebraska before Sunday’s 80-68 win against the Huskies.
Rutgers used to be a women’s basketball power but have since fallen on hard times. They haven’t had a winning season since the pandemic-altered 2020-2021 campaign when they went 14-5. Rutgers was just 8-24 last year, including 2-16 in the Big Ten. So far this year, they are 8-9 but 0-6 in the Big Ten.
As their 0-6 record would indicate, Rutgers has struggled in conference play so far. They suffered a 50-point loss at home to #4 USC and four of their six losses have been by double digits. In common opponents with MSU, Rutgers fell by 17 at Maryland and 69-62 at home against Nebraska.
On the floor, Rutgers is led by freshman guard Kiyomi McMiller who averages over 20 points, three assists, and five rebounds. McMiller came to Rutgers as the 22nd ranked recruit in the country by espnW and is currently the second leading scorer in the Big Ten behind only USC’s JuJu Watkins.
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Coquese Washington leads Rutgers from the bench and is in her third year with the program. Prior to Rutgers, Washington had stints as the associate head coach at Notre Dame and Oklahoma and a 12-year run leading Penn State where she won three Big Ten championships in a row from 2012-2014.
Michigan State, at #22, is one of six ranked teams in a very strong Big Ten Conference. Number 1 UCLA, #4 USC, and #9 Ohio State are all unbeaten in conference play while UCLA and Ohio State have yet to lose on the season. Eighth-ranked Maryland and #24 Minnesota have only lost once.
MSU needs a road win against a struggling Rutgers program to stay within range of the top of the conference.
This is also rivalry week for two MSU programs. Sixth-ranked gymnastics hosts #20 Michigan at 6 PM Friday in the Breslin Center. The match will be streamed on Big Ten Plus.
Hockey is at Michigan for a 7 PM puck drop on Friday (steaming on Big Ten Plus) and then the two teams face each other again at Munn at 7:30 PM Saturday (Big Ten Network).
Michigan State holds a very narrow one-point lead (28-27) over Minnesota for first place in the conference after last weekend. Minnesota split with Ohio State while MSU had a come from behind win and a tie with a shootout loss at Penn State last weekend. The Spartans missed an opportunity on Saturday to gain a little more separation from the Gophers by settling for the tie against the conference’s last place team.
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Michigan is fifth in a very strong Big Ten conference with 18 points. The Wolverines are 13-8-1 overall and 7-5 in conference. They are coming off a series split with Notre Dame, who sits just ahead of Penn State in the Big Ten standings.
Minnesota hosts Notre Dame this weekend, so the Spartans’ task against their rival is much tougher. But more importantly, it’s Michigan, and that’s probably all that needs to be said.
We’ll have a series write up after Saturday’s game.