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•What: Michigan State vs. Cleveland State

•When: 6 p.m. Friday

•Where: Breslin Center, East Lansing

•TV/Radio: Big Ten Network / Spartan Sports Network, including WJIM 1240-AM and WMMQ 94.9-FM

•Records/Rankings: MSU is 12-1 overall, 2-0 in the Big Ten and ranked No. 2 in both major polls; Cleveland State is 3-9 overall, 0-0 in the Horizon League and unranked.

•Coaches: MSU — Tom Izzo is 556-221 in his 23rd season, all with the Spartans. Cleveland State — Dennis Felton is 187-154 in his 12th season. This is his first season at Cleveland State, after previous head coaching stops at Georgia (2003-09) and Western Kentucky (1998-2003).

•Series: The Spartans lead 8-0 all-time, most recently meeting in December of 2005, during MSU assistant coach Mike Garland’s final season as Cleveland State’s head coach. Notably, three of the eight meetings between these programs have been played in Cleveland, including in 1993 and 1997.

Cleveland State

Pos.

Name

PPG

F (2)

Anthony Wright (6-7)

8.1

F (13)

Stefan Kenic (6-9)

8.6

F (4)

Kenny Carpenter (6-5)

13.7

G (20)

Bobby Word (6-4)

8.9

G (5)

Tyree Appleby (6-1)

11.7

MSU

Pos.

Name

PPG

C (44)

Nick Ward (6-8)

14.5

F (2)

Jaren Jackson Jr. (6-11)

10.4

G (22)

Miles Bridges (6-7)

16.8

G (1)

Joshua Langford (6-5)

13.6

G (5)

Cassius Winston (6-0)

13.0

•Cleveland State update: The Vikings are a hard-luck program in the beginning stages of a rebuild. Consider that just four years ago, in 2013-14, Cleveland State finished 21-12 and 12-4 in the Horizon League. On the roster for then-coach Gary Waters: sophomores Bryn Forbes (15.6 ppg), Trey Lewis (13.1 ppg) and Anton Grady (10.4 ppg). What should have and could have been the beginning of another special run from Waters’ program, fell apart when Forbes transferred to Michigan State after that season and then Lewis and Grady left as grad transfers after the following season, Lewis to Louisville, Grady to Wichita State. Cleveland State is THE example of the downside of the grad transfer rule.

Enter Dennis Felton, who’s been successful at the mid-major level. He coached Western Kentucky to three straight NCAA tournaments from 2001 to 2003, before a mediocre six-year run at Georgia. On his staff is Lou Dawkins, who coached Saginaw High and Draymond Green to back-to-back state championships, before spending the last six years on Mark Montgomery’s staff at Northern Illinois.

•MSU update: The Spartans have to keep themselves dialed in and interested for two more nonleague games before Big Ten play begins. Nick Ward has done an incredible job of that lately. The Spartans’ center is playing the best all-around basketball of his career, including making 19 of his last 20 shots. Ward’s .686 field-goal percentage is tops in the Big Ten and is in the top 10 in college basketball. Cassius Winston leads the Big Ten in assists at 6.9 per game, which is also the 12th-highest average in the country. Jaren Jackson Jr.’s 3.38 blocked shots per game is only third in the Big Ten, but it ranks seventh nationwide. Minnesota’s Reggie Lynch and Penn State’s Mike Watkins are just ahead of Jackson. MSU leads the Big Ten in field-goal percentage (.512) and leads the country in field-goal percentage defense (.334). A big reason for that is Jackson and MSU’s rim protection. The Spartans’ 8.8 blocks per game are also a national best.

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•About the matchup: Cleveland State has had a few teams in the last decade that would give MSU a test — notably its 2009 second-round NCAA tournament team and its 2011 NIT team that featured NBA point guard Norris Cole as a senior and belonged in the Big Dance. This year’s team, however, doesn’t have a prayer. Kenny Carpenter, a 6-foot-5 senior wing from Detroit, is having a breakout season. He has a brutal matchup with Miles Bridges, who’s two inches taller, 40 pounds heavier and more athletic. Stefan Kenic is a 6-9 stretch-4, who will pull Jaren Jackson away from the basket. One of the more interesting players on Cleveland State’s roster is its first guard off the bench, Dontel Highsmith, who was a big recruit out of Dowagiac by Lou Dawkins at Northern Illinois. Two ACL tears on the same knee have altered his career. He followed Dawkins to Cleveland State and is only a junior eligibility-wise.

•Prediction: There is little on Cleveland State’s resume thus far to suggest this game could be competitive. The only common opponent is Rutgers, which both MSU and Cleveland State played against in Piscataway, New Jersey. The Spartans won by 10. The Vikings lost by 32. Cleveland State’s best result thus far is a recent 19-point loss at Cincinnati, in which it trailed just 60-54 with less than 9 minutes remaining. That was followed up by a 15-point home loss to Toledo two days before Christmas.

» Make it: MSU 84, Cleveland State 55

— Graham Couch

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