After a . . . concerning three game exhibition slate, Michigan State basketball now gets official. The Spartans host Quinnipiac and Toledo this week to get the regular season underway. This precedes a huge Champions Classic matchup with Duke next week. But let’s not look ahead just yet. Instead, we’ll take a closer look at this week’s opponents, starting with the Quinnipiac Bobcats, who visit the Breslin Center tonight (7 PM ET, B1G+).
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Quinnipiac University Bobcats
Location: Hamden, CT
Conference: Metro Athletic
Last year: 19-13 overall, 12-8 in the Metro Conference (T-4th), lost to #5 seed Marist in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament. Quinnipiac opened last year against a highly-ranked opponent, losing to #5 St. John’s 108-74.
This year: This is Quinnipiac’s opener as well. Unlike Michigan State, the Bobcats do not appear to have played any exhibition games this year. Quinnipiac will travel to UCLA in December but otherwise will play Metro Conference and other mid-major teams.
Expected Key Players:
#0 Lucas Sekasi. 6-6, 200, JR, G. Transfer from Division II Gannon University, winners of the 2026 DII National Championship. Averaged 10.9 points and 5.1 rebounds per game as a sophomore at Gannon.
#3 Nas Hart. 6-10, 200, SO, F. Transfer from LaSalle, where he played in 20 games last year, starting 3. Averaged 2.3 points and 3 boards for the Explorers last season.
#5 Tayeshawn Cunningham-Pemberton. 6-4, 205, SR, G. Transfer from Assumption, where he averaged 14 pts and 4.4 rebs per game last season; touted as a strong two-way player.
#12 Holden Pierre-Louis. 6-8, 240, JR, F. Spent freshman year at Temple and last year at Cleveland State, where he averaged 3.3 pts & 2.7 rebs.
#17 Nedas Cholevinskas. 6-5, 210, FR, F. Lithuanian native played in the English Super League last year, averaging 7.1 pts & 2.5 rebs while shooting 36.5% from three.
#21 Keith McKnight. 6-8, 215, SO, F. Played in all 32 games for the Bobcats last year, averaging 11 points and 6 rebounds, while shooting 54.6%. Made the Metro all-rookie team.
Expected Bench / Role Players:
#4 Tai Turnage. 6-0, 175, SO, G. 3.6 pts, 2.1 assts, 1.3 rebs per game for Quinnipiac last season. 5:1 assist to turnover ratio last year; shot 81% from free throw line.
#9 Nate Guerengomba. 6-4, 215, JR, G. Played in 25 games last year for Quinnipiac, averaging 2.5 pts & 1.7 boards.
McKnight appears to be Quinnipiac’s best player while Cholevinskas is a three point threat with European experience. Sekasi brings a winning pedigree from DII Gannon University, where he averaged double-digit points last season.
This season will be Tom Pecora’s fourth as head coach of the Bobcats, where he’s gone 63-36 through three season. Under Pecora, Quinnipiac won the Metro regular season championship in both 2024 and 2025 and he was named the conference’s coach of the year in both of those seasons.
For his 17 year career as a head coach, Pecora has a 324-292 record at SUNY Farmingdale, Hofstra, Fordham, and Quinnipiac.
Per his bio, Pecora has coached four NBA players and every one of his players over 40 years of collegiate coaching has earned a degree.
University of Toledo Rockets
Toledo will visit Breslin on Thursday for an 8 PM ET tip (Peacock / NBCSN).
Location: Toledo, OH
Conference Mid-American
Last Year: 19-15 overall, 11-7 in the MAC, made it to the final of MAC tournament championship but fell 79-76 to #2 seed Akron and just missed an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. The Spartans defeated Toledo 92-69 last December – the only game all year where the Rockets were held under 70 points. Toledo topped 90 points 11 times last year and surpassed the century mark five times.
This Year: Toledo has played two exhibition games, defeating the University of Findlay (OH) 88-78 on October 18 and falling 79-66 to Northern Illinois a week later. The Rockets open their regular season tonight at Arkansas State.
Expected Key Players:
#1 Sean Jones. 5-10, 190, R-SR, G. Transferred from Marquette, where he played 21.2 minutes per game over eight games last year, averaging 6.2 points & 3.9 assists. Injured, and missed most of the season.
#5 Mynor Strong. 6-3, 175, JR, G. Started 15 of 34 games last year for Toledo, averaging 5.2 points. Re-entered starting lineup in late January and then shot 45.2% on three point field goals.
#9 Angel Montas Jr. 6-6, 230, R-SR, G. Transferred from UMass-Lowell, where he averaged 15.8 points per game last year on 50.9% shooting, earning first-team America East Honors.
#11 Will James Jr. 6-4, 205, SO, G. Played in every game for Toledo as a freshman, averaging 3.1 ppg and 1.7 rpg with a 51.2 FG% in 9.5 mpg. Made four of his seven three point attempts last year.
#25 Austin Parks. 6-10, 250, SR, C. Started career at Ohio State; transferred to Toledo after his sophomore season. As a junior last year at Toledo, averaged 10.6 points and 5.7 rebounds per game in 25.1 minutes. Started all 34 games.
#32 Jaylan Ouwinga. 6-9, 225, JR, F. Played at Grand Rapids Christian High School. Averaged 6.3 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 0.9 blocked shots in 18.7 minutes per game last year at Toledo.
Expected Bench / Role Players
#7 Jaylohn Allen. 6-1, 190, FR, G. Played at Wayne Memorial High last year, ranked the #3 player in Michigan by 247 Sports and finished third in the MI Mr. Basketball voting. Averaged 23.2 ppg as a senior at Wayne Memorial.
#23 Rich Barron. 6-5, 230, R-JR, F. Transfer from Providence, where he was a medical redshirt last season. Played in 27 games as a sophomore at Providence, starting nine, and averaging 5.2 ppg.
#24 Rashaun Porter. 6-7, 225, FR, F. Number four-ranked high school player in Illinois last year according to 247 Sports. First team all-state his senior year with 16 points and 6.8 rebounds per game at DePaul College Prep.
Outside of Parks and Ouwinga, Toledo doesn’t have a lot of size and appears to be guard-heavy. Their two bigs should face quite a challenge against Michigan State. Maybe this is a game where Anton Bonke can gain some confidence. In last year’s MSU win, Parks had 4 points and 9 boards in 21 minutes while Ouwinga played 25 minutes with 5 points and 3 rebounds.
The one Toledo player that really hurt the Spartans last year with 29 points is guard Sonny Wilson but he’s at South Florida now. Hopefully none of the Rockets’ guards listed above (or someone that I missed in this preview) goes off like Wilson did in Breslin last year.
Tod Kowalczyk is beginning his 17th year as the Rockets’ head coach, where he’s won 60% of his games. From 2021 to 2024, Kowalczyk led Toledo to four consecutive 20-win seasons while winning the MAC regular season title each year.
