The Michigan State Spartans will have just over 72 hours to calm down from the program’s second biggest ever margin of victory in a Big Ten game (we defeated u*m by 51 points in 2000) in order to prepare for a road tilt against Rutgers. After sweeping their west-coast trip and then demolishing Maryland at home by 43 points, MSU gets back on a plane and now heads to the Atlantic seaboard to take on another sub-.500 team. The Scarlet Knights have a 2-9 record in conference games and 9-11 overall. They
have lost three straight and four of their last five. I guess it is also worth noting in this intro that the state of New Jersey is going to have subzero temperatures for the next few days along with expected snow and ice; hopefully this does not complicate the team’s travel plans.
Rutgers’ 2025-26 Season
If we are to try and find clues from Rutgers first 20 games to see how this game could go, we should focus in on their four games against ranked opponents. So far this year, the Knights have played the then-#17 (now unranked) Tennessee Volunteers on a neutral-court, hosted Purdue and visited u*m in their December conference games, and travelled to Illinois earlier this month. I’m sure you already guessed that they lost all four of those games. None of them were close, with the narrowest loss being by 16 against Purdue. The average score of those matchups was 87-60.
Outside of those four blowouts, where Rutgers holds a 9-7 record, their best win is arguably their November win over the American University Eagles. I only rank them so high because they are at least in contention for their conference championship, currently just a game behind Navy in the Patriot League. Rutgers’ two conference wins were overtime affairs at home against Oregon and Northwestern – two of the four teams below them in the Big Ten standings.
Assuming MSU can put themselves in a category with Illinois, Purdue, and u*m (who along with MSU and Nebraska occupy the top of the conference table), then there is reason to believe that MSU should win handily on Tuesday night. But before we jump to any easy conclusions, let’s take a closer look at these Scarlet Knights.
Rutgers’ Lineup
As should be the case with any team that is struggling, there have been some fluctuations to the Knights’ starting five. A total of nine different players have started a game this season, and none of that appears to be due to injuries as the six guys who have started at least ten games have missed a total of two games on the year.
- Jamichael Davis, PG – We can slot Davis into the starting lineup as has been the case in 19 games so far. He leads the team in minutes (27.5), is 4th in scoring (7.6), and leads them in assists (2.6). He only turns it over once per game. At 6’2” and 180 pounds, he has a similar build to Jeremy Fears Jr.
- Kaden Powers, SG – Powers has only started six games all year, but he has been getting the nod lately as Davis’s backcourt partner. He has scored at least 8 points in eight of the last ten games and reached double digits twice in that stretch. He is a freshman and has been improving as his first season of college ball goes on.
- Dylan Grant, SF – The second wing spot is possibly the most contentious for Rutgers. While Grant has started 17 games including their last contest, he did come off the bench the previous two. He is the team’s 2nd leading scorer at 11.1 and also 2nd with 4.6 rebounds while playing 23.7 minutes per game. That said, he is trending in the wrong direction, totaling just 21 points in the last six games. If he does not start, this spot likely goes to…
- Harun Zrno, SF – The freshman from Bosnia & Herzegovina started those two games that Grant recently came off the bench for. He scored 21 in one of those games but put up a bagel in the other, just as he did in the most recent game where he was back coming off the bench. On the season, he has started ten games and averages 6.1 PPG.
- Darren Buchanan Jr., PF – Officially listed as a guard on Rutgers’ website, Buchanan has been playing the 4-spot due to his size and strength. At 6’7” and with a broad 235-pound frame, Buchanan has had to play inside for Rutgers. Only six starts on the year, but has been the guy lately and has played at least 25 minutes in their last three games (and went for 41 minutes in the game before that, the OT win over NW, where he had a 14-point and 10-rebound performance). He is averaging over 11 PPG in the last six games.
- Emmanuel Ogbole, C – Another international player, the 6’10” senior from Nigeria has started all but three games, and even in those games, he received more minutes than his replacement. While he leads the team with 6.9 rebounds per game, he only averages 4.9 points, which contributes to his lower minutes totals than the other starters.
- Tariq Francis, G – Here is the most interesting piece of Rutgers’ roster. Francis has been their leading scorer at 15.9 PPG in 26 minutes, 2nd most on the team, but has only started 10 games this year, and you would have to go back to December 13 to find the most recent example.
Basically, while Rutgers will most likely start a traditional PG/SG/SF/PF/C lineup, look for them to play a lot of minutes with a third guard and a smaller rotation to get their best offensive players on the court. Of course, with MSU’s size, this could and should lead to a massive rebounding advantage for the Spartans, and everything that comes along with that.
In Conclusion
I won’t go so far as to predict a trap game. The Spartans should win this game comfortably. But a Tuesday night game against Rutgers in the midst of a brutal stretch of weather and with our in-state rival coming to our arena three days later, I would not be surprised if the halftime score is within single digits. Of course, MSU, as they have been known to do this season, will enforce their will in the second half and pull away for that big win that Rutgers’ other ranked opponents have been able to collect against them. I will predict a 25-point win, 82-57.
The game tips off at 6:30 PM ET and will air on FS1.
@Wankerman, please let me know when you are done proofreading this article.
And here are a few more photos from the last game…
