PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers men's basketball resumes play this Saturday with a showdown against No. 8/8 Michigan State. The game will be played at Madison Square Garden as a Rutgers' home game. The matchup will be aired nationwide on CBS, with Ian Eagle, Bill Rafferty and Jay Wright on the broadcast.

Rutgers men's basketball will play in a game televised by CBS for the first time in 12,369 days, with the last appearance on CBS coming in a First Round NCAA Tournament loss to Arizona State on March 16, 1991. The last regular season game for RU televised on CBS came on Jan. 22, 1983 against West Virginia.
 

About Rutgers

Rutgers stands at 10-9 overall and 3-5 in the Big Ten after a 80-72 loss on Monday night at Penn State snapped the team's two-game winning streak (home vs. UCLA, away at Nebraska). In that contest, Ace Bailey posted his second 30-point game of the season to lead the team in scoring. Bailey now leads all freshmen in the country in scoring at 19.9 points per game, with Dylan Harper second at 19.3 points per game.

Bailey was the Big Ten Freshman of the Week and the Met Basketball Writers Player of the Week after averaging 27 points and nine rebounds in wins over UCLA and Nebraska. Over the past three games, he's averaged 24.6 points per game on 28-of-44 shooting from the field and 9-of-16 from three-point distance. He has averaged 23.2 points and 8.2 rebounds over the past seven games. In conference games only, Ace Bailey has averaged 20.8 points and 9.0 rebounds.

In conference games only, Rutgers' four leading scorers are the team's four freshmen: Bailey (20.8 ppg), Dylan Harper (13.7 ppg), Dylan Grant (6.7 ppg) and Lathan Sommerville (6.3 ppg). The quartet is shooting 47.1% from the field, with the rest of the team shooting 38% in that span.

The team will also commemorate Letterwinners Day at the game. Over 70 alumni of the program are set to attend.

RU, who has never averaged more than 69 points per game under head coach Steve Pikiell is averaging 76.6 points per game this season. The last time RU averaged over 70 points per game was 2013-14 (71.1 ppg). RU has averaged over 70 points per game for a full season just that one time since the start of the 2001-02 season.
 

Freshman Scoring Record

Freshmen Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey are approaching historic ranks for their scoring output among Rutgers' freshmen, each on the verge of the top-7 scoring seasons by a true freshman Scarlet Knight. Harper (348 points) is just 8 points from surpassing Ricky Shields 2001-02 season (355 points), while Ace Bailey (339 points) stands 16 points behind.
 
Rutgers True Freshmen Scoring Leaders

1. Mike Rosario (08-09): 517
2. Phil Sellers (72-73): 506
3. Corey Sanders (15-16): 430
4. Quincy Douby (03-04): 412
5. Hollis Copeland (74-75): 395
6. Geo Baker (17-18): 358
7. Ricky Shields (01-02): 355

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Dylan Harper: 348
Ace Bailey: 339
 

About Michigan State

Hall of Fame head coach Tom Izzo is 723–297 in 30 seasons at the helm for the Spartans. He leads his team into the game Saturday with a 16-2 overall record and undefeated 7-0 league mark following a six-day break after a 80-78 win over No. 16 Illinois last Sunday. The Spartans are on a 11-game winning streak, the second longest in collegiate basketball. MSU's two losses have come against teams currently ranked in this week's AP Poll (No. 12 Kansas and No. 24 Memphis). The victory over Illinois' was the first of MSU's seven league wins to come against teams currently standing better than 12^th in the league. Their first six wins came against the bottom six teams in the league standings.

Michigan State's scoring has been balanced, with eight players between 8 and 14 points per game. Jaden Adkins is at 13.9 points per game, followed by seven players that have scored between 142 and 157 points on the season.

The Spartans are in the top-10 nationally in fastbreak points (second), free throw percentage (third), bench points (fourth), rebounding margin (seventh) and assists (ninth). Jeremy Fears is 18^th nationally and second in the conference at a 3.10 assist-to-turnover ratio.
 

About the Series

Rutgers and Michigan State will match up for the 17th time, and the Scarlet Knights have won three of the last five meetings after dropping the first 11 games in the series. Rutgers also claimed victories by 21 and 30 points over MSU in past four seasons. This will mark two of the last three games in the series being played at Madison Square Garden.

Rutgers At Madison Square Garden

• Overall record: 54-59
• Record at current Madison Square Garden: 48-57

In Rutgers' last game at Madison Square Garden, RU defeated Michigan State, 61-55 on February 4, 2023. The Scarlet Knights were led by 17 points from Paul Mulcahy in the second half, and a double-double from Cliff Omoruyi (16 points, 12 rebounds).

Rutgers is 3-3 at Madison Square Garden under Steve Pikiell, having played three times in the Big Ten's Super Saturday event (win over Michigan State, losses to Wisconsin and Michigan) and three games at the 2018 Big Ten Tournament (2-1 record).
 

With a Win

• Sixth top-10 win under head coach Steve Pikiell and first since defeating No. 9 Wisconsin on Feb. 10, 2024
• 50^th ranked win lifetime
• 17^th ranked win under head coach Steve Pikiell
• First win over a ranked Michigan State team
• Four wins in the last six games against Michigan State

 

Up Next

Rutgers returns to the road on Wednesday night, with a 9 p.m. game at Northwestern. That will mark their fourth straight game away from Jersey Mike's Arena, with three true road games in addition to the game at MSG. Following the contest against the Wildcats, RU returns home to host a pair of ranked teams, No. 21/20 Michigan (Feb. 1) and No. 17/17 Illinois (Feb. 5).