East Lansing, Mich. – After a five-day break, its longest since Christmas, the Michigan State men's basketball team returns to the court on Saturday, Feb. 4, playing Rutgers at Madison Square Garden, The World's Most Famous Arena.

The game will air live on FOX, with Kevin Kugler and Jim Spanarkel calling all of the action. The TCF Bank Spartan Media Network radio call can be heard on one of 38 affiliates and on the web at MSUSpartans.com, with Will Tieman handling the play-by-play and Matt Steigenga serving as the color analyst. The game can also be heard on channels 382 on SiriusXM and channel 972 on the SiriusXM app.

About the Spartans

• Michigan State has won nine of its last 13 games and enters the game on Saturday with a 14-8 overall record, including a 6-5 mark in Big Ten play.
• After Saturday's game, the Spartans will close out the regular season with 4 games at home and 4 on the road.
• MSU is tied for 4th in the B1G in scoring defense (65.27 ppg), 4th in FG% defense (42.1%) and 1st in 3-point defense (29.6%) .
• The Spartans, who played one of the nation's toughest schedules in the country to open the season, have faced the No. 1 toughest slate of opposing offenses in the country, the 18th-toughest slate of opposing defenses and rank No. 3 overall in strength of schedule, per KenPom.com.
• The Spartans are No. 6 nationally in the NET Strength of Schedule, No. 47 in the latest NET rankings and No. 42 in KenPom.
• Through 22 games, senior guard Tyson Walker leads the team in scoring with 13.9 ppg, while adding 2.5 rebounds and 2.6 assists.
• Graduate forward Joey Hauser is second on the team in scoring with 13.2 points per game and leads the team with 7.5 rebounds per game, while shooting 47.2 percent from the floor and 41.7 percent from 3-point land.
• Junior guard A.J. Hoggard is third on the team with 12.7 points, fourth with 3.8 rebounds and leads the team (and is 2nd in the Big Ten) with 5.9 assists per game … Hoggard is one of seven Division I players in the country averaging at least 12.5 ppg, 3.7 rpg and 5.8 apt.
• Senior forward Malik Hall, who played against Iowa after missing three games (11 overall), is fourth on the team with 9.8 ppg and tied for third with 3.8 rpg.
• Sophomore guard Jaden Akins is averaging 9.0 points and 3.7 rebounds, while junior forward Mady Sissoko is averaging 5.7 points and is second on the team with 6.7 rebounds and sophomore Pierre Brooks II is averaging 4.7 points and 2.2 rebounds.

About Rutgers

• Rutgers enters the game on Saturday with a 15-7 overall record and a 7-4 mark in the Big Ten following a 90-55 win over Minnesota at home on Wednesday night.
• The Scarlet Knights have won two of their last three games (Penn State, 65-45, and Minnesota, 90-55) since losing to Michigan State on the road.
• Rutgers is 13-2 at home, including a 5-1 mark in the Big Ten, the lone loss coming in a 76-65 decision to Iowa.        
• Junior center Clifford Omoruyi is averaging 13.4 ppg and is third in the B1G with 9.9 rpg, while grad Cam Spencer is averaging 13.1 ppg.
• Rutgers is second in the Big Ten in scoring defense in conference games (63.1 ppg) and first in field goal percentage defense (39.7%).

Series History

• Michigan State and Rutgers meet for only the 15th time in program history.
• The Spartans lead the head-to-head series, 12-2, and have won 11 of 13 meetings since Rutgers joined the Big Ten.
• The Spartans won the first meeting between the teams this year (see below) last month at home.
• The teams first played on Dec. 19, 1970, with MSU posting an 81-71 win to capture the team championship at the Lobo Invitational in New Mexico.