• What: Michigan State at Washington
• When: 6 p.m. (ET) Saturday
• Or: American Airlines Arena, Seattle
• Television/Radio: Big Ten Network/Spartan Sports Network Radio, including WJIM 1240-AM and WMMQ 94.9-FM; SiriusXM Ch. 196 (MSU broadcast), 387 (Washington broadcast)
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• Records/Rankings: MSU is 15-2 overall and 5-1 in the Big Ten, and is ranked No. 12 in the Associated Press and USA TODAY Coaches polls, No. 13 in the NET rankings used by the NCAA tournament selection committee and No. 13 according to college basketball analytics site Kenpom.com. Washington is 10-7 overall and 2-4 in the Big Ten, and is unranked in the two major polls. THE Huskies are No. 55 in the NET rankings and No. 49 by Kenpom.
• Betting line: MSU-3.5
• Coaches: Michigan State — Tom Izzo is 752-304 in his 31st season as head coach, all with the Spartans. Washington- Danny Sprinkle is 132-75 in his seventh season as head coach and 23-25 in his second season with the Huskies. He previously coached one season at Utah State and four at Montana State.
• Series: MSU leads 5-2 all-time, winning last season’s only meeting, 88-54, at the Breslin Center. Before Washington joined the Big Ten until last year, the two teams met most recently in the 2010 Maui Invitational, a game MSU won. The Spartans faced the Huskies one other time in the Izzo era, with MSU defeating Washington at the Breslin Center in the first round of the 1996 NIT, late in Izzo’s first season.
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Projected compositions
MSU
C (15) Carson Cooper (6-11) 10..1
PF (0) Jaxon Kohler (6-9) 14.4
SF (55) Coen Carr (6-5) 11.3
SG (99) Divine Ugochukwu (6-3) 5.0
PG (1) Jeremy Fears Jr. (6-2) 12.8
Washington
C (11) Franck Kepnang (6-11) 6.4
PF (8) Hannes Steinbach (6-11) 17.9
F (8) Bryson Tucker (6-7) 6.7
G (0) Quimari Peterson (6-1) 10.1
PG (5) Zoom Diallo (6-1) 14.9
• MSU update: The Spartans head west for a two-game series at Washington and Oregon after three straight home wins – against USC, Northwestern and Indiana. At 5-1 in the Big Ten, with games against struggling Maryland and Rutgers teams on the other side of this trip, MSU has a real chance to get to the Big Ten’s halfway point at 9-1 before Michigan visits Breslin. Doing so will require a successful road trip against the Huskies (Saturday) and Ducks (Tuesday), two teams with better talent than their records indicate. Last season, the Spartans lost both of their Big Ten games on the West Coast, to USC and UCLA.
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MSU so far this season is No. 2 nationally in defensive efficiency, according to Kenpom.com, and No. 1 in defensive rebounding percentage, and No. 7 on the offensive end, with the Spartans taking more than 40 percent of their own missed shots. In conference play, they are No. 1 in all three categories. Jaxon Kohler leads the Big Ten in 3-point percentage at 51.6%. and is second in rebounds per game with 10.1, behind Washington’s Hannes Steinbach (11.0). MSU point guard Jeremy Fears is second in the league in assists (8.8 per game) and top five in free throw percentage (88.6%).
MORE: Couch: Michigan State basketball’s untapped potential starts with Jordan Scott and Cam Ward
• Washington update: Washington is coming off an 82-72 home loss to Michigan on Wednesday night. It was the Huskies’ third loss in four games, including a win over Ohio State (81-74) and road losses at Purdue (81-73) and Indiana (80-70). In the Big Ten, the Huskies also have a victory at USC (84-76) and a home defeat against UCLA (82-80) in early December.
This is a much different team than the one that was blown out at the Breslin Center last season, but it’s not entirely an unfamiliar group. Last year’s USC backcourt of Wesley Yates III and Desmond Claude (who combined for 34 points against MSU) is now on Washington’s roster, as are Indiana transfer Bryson Tucker and Rutgers transfer Lathan Sommerville, although Sommerville is injured. Guard Zoom Diallo and big man Franck Kepnang are the only ones returning. Freshman big man Hannes Steinbach has been Washington’s best player all season, averaging 18 points and 11 rebounds. His compatriot JJ Mandaquit handled most of the important minutes at point guard for Washington against Michigan on Wednesday night. The Huskies also just added forward Jacob Ognacevic, who scored 10 points in his debut Wednesday, after missing the first half of the season with a foot injury.
The Washington Huskies guard Desmond Claude (1) and forward Hannes Steinbach (6) top five after a play at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Indiana.
• Correspondence analysis: The Huskies’ roster, on paper, is one that should be in the NCAA tournament. And their coach, Danny Sprinkle, has been very successful in getting the best out of the teams at previous stops. But this collection of players doesn’t always seem to fit or play connected basketball. Turning to freshman Mandaquit at point guard was an attempt to solve that problem. Huskies have skillful size, wing length and depth. But they don’t move the ball very well and often they don’t shoot it well from deep. Washington ranks 277th in assists per field goal, according to Kenpom, and makes just 31.5 percent of its 3-point attempts, which ranks 269th nationally. MSU, by comparison, makes 35.5 percent of its 3s, putting the Spartans in the top 100 nationally, and they are No. 2 in college basketball in assists per field goal. Washington’s size won’t bother MSU, even if Steinbach can be a chore to defend. Guard Quimari Peterson, a transfer from East Tennessee State, is the only player in Washington’s rotation who is consistently dangerous from beyond the arc.
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• Prediction: Washington has the talent to give MSU a tough game, if the Huskies make shots and play to their abilities. It’s a risky journey for the Spartans, but they must handle it if they want to have a chance to repeat as Big Ten champions.
• Do it: MSU 83, Washington 78
MORE: Couch: By transforming MSU Athletics, J Batt hopes to build a sustainable business and win football
Contact Graham Couch at [email protected]. Follow him on X @Graham_Coch and BlueSky @GrahamCouch.
This article was originally published in the Lansing State Journal: MSU at Washington basketball, predictions, preview, TV, betting line
