PISCATAWAY – Rutgers (11-6, 1-3) plays its fourth ranked opponent in its initial five league games when it travels to 4/4 Michigan State (15-2, 3-1) on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. tip-off. The Scarlet Knights have the opportunity to defeat their second ranked opponent this season and earn their highest-ranked road victory in school history after downing No. 13 Pittsburgh 77-64 on Jan. 26, 2008.

Rutgers is third nationally in offensive rebounding (14.82), sixth in overall rebounding (42.59), ninth in scoring defense (60.9), 13th in turnover margin (4.6) and 14th in field goal percentage defense (38.1). The Scarlet Knights are among the top three in the Big Ten in 12 stat categories.

The game will be televised live on BTN with Kevin Kugler calling the action and Shon Morris providing the commentary. On the radio, the contest will be broadcast live on the Rutgers IMG Sports Network, WOR 710 AM in New York and WCTC 1450 AM in New Brunswick. Jerry Recco will serve as play-by-play announcer and Joe Boylan will provide commentary.

MSU has won the prior six meetings between the schools dating back to 1970, including two in East Lansing. Corey Sanders is averaging 16.0 points in four career games versus the Spartans, boosted by 22 on 9-of-16 shooting in the last match-up at the Breslin Center.

Michigan State is one four home-and-home league foes for RU, along with 5/7 Purdue, rv/rv Ohio State and Nebraska. On Dec. 5, Rutgers battled then No. 3-ranked MSU, but was unable to find its shot in a 62-52 loss to the Spartans at the RAC. The Scarlet Knights limited MSU to a 62 points and 38.6 percent shooting, well below its season averages.

With the game tied and two minutes remaining, Rutgers went on a 9-2 run to ensure 64-60 victory over Wisconsin Friday evening at the RAC. Sanders shot 10-of-19 to score a season-high 23 points, while Deshawn Freeman added 15 for the Scarlet Knights, in a contest that featured four ties and nine lead changes. Rutgers forced 14 Badger turnovers, while committing only six, RU's lowest ever miscue total in a Big Ten game. Seven of Wisconsin's turnovers were committed by Ethan Happ, a career-high for the All-American. The Scarlet Knights benefitted from a 62.5 percent (5-of-8) performance from behind the arc, its best percentage under Pikiell and its best 3-point effort since shooting 71.4 percent versus Minnesota on Feb. 23, 2016.

Under Naismith Hall of Fame coach Tom Izzo, Michigan State leads the nation in assists (21.8), blocks (8.0), field goal percentage (52.5), field goal percentage defense (34.2), rebound margin (12.8) and scoring margin (24.1).  The Spartans won 14 straight before suffering an 80-64 loss at Ohio State on Sunday. Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year Miles Bridges is one of five players averaging double figures for MSU, which is 10-0 at home this season.

Single game tickets for Rutgers men's basketball home games are available online or by calling the Rutgers Ticket Office at 1-866-445-GORU. Fans also have the opportunity to purchase flex ticket plans, which enable consumers to select any four games from the home schedule to create their own package.

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