Rutgers Looks to Rebound Against Red-Hot Michigan State in Pivotal Big Ten Clash
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - After a tough home loss to Indiana, Rutgers men’s basketball is staying put at Jersey Mike’s Arena for another high-stakes Big Ten matchup - this time against a surging, ranked Michigan State squad. Tipoff is set for Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. ET on FS1, with Jason Benetti and Bill Raftery on the call, before the Scarlet Knights head west for a two-game California road trip.
Friday night’s 82-59 loss to Indiana was a gut check for Rutgers. The Hoosiers snapped a six-year drought in Piscataway, picking up their first win at Jersey Mike’s Arena since 2018.
But despite the lopsided score, there were a few silver linings for the Scarlet Knights. Rutgers committed just five turnovers - a season low and their cleanest game in Big Ten play since a 2024 win over Michigan.
They also kept the foul count to just five, showing discipline even as the game got away from them.
One player who continues to shine is junior guard Tariq Francis, who poured in a game-high 28 points on 10-of-23 shooting, including a near-perfect 7-of-8 from the free-throw line. That marked the third time in six games he’s hit double-digit field goals, and he’s averaging 20.7 points per game over that stretch.
Francis has notched at least 15 points in eight of his last nine outings, bumping his season scoring average from 11.3 to 15.9 points per game. He’s also been lights out at the stripe, hitting 91.3% of his free throws over the past eight contests (42-of-46).
Not bad for a player who’s been coming off the bench - though his minutes say otherwise. Rutgers ranks 26th nationally in bench usage, with 40.7% of total minutes coming from non-starters.
Francis was recognized before the Indiana game for reaching 1,000 career points, with Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway on hand for the ceremony. He’s shooting a career-best 43.7% from the field this season and has become a steady offensive engine for a team that’s still searching for consistency.
Emmanuel Ogbole continues to be a force on the glass. The big man grabbed five offensive rebounds against Indiana and now ranks in the top five in the Big Ten in that category.
He leads Rutgers in total rebounding (6.9 per game) and has nearly as many offensive boards (64) as defensive (74) - a rare split that speaks to his relentless motor. His 64 offensive rebounds already surpass last year’s team-high (62 by Ace Bailey) and are the most by a Scarlet Knight since Clifford Omoruyi's 84 in the 2023-24 campaign.
Ogbole’s offensive rebounding rate of 19.0% ranks fourth in the nation - elite territory.
Freshman guard Kaden Powers is another name to watch. He’s started the last six games and is starting to find his rhythm.
After averaging just 4.5 points per game early in the season, he’s nearly doubled that over the last five contests, putting up 9.2 points per game. His emergence adds another dimension to a backcourt that’s needed more scoring punch.
Scouting Michigan State
The Spartans are rolling. Under Hall of Fame head coach Tom Izzo, Michigan State is 18-2 overall and 8-1 in Big Ten play, riding a six-game win streak coming into Tuesday’s matchup.
This marks the second straight season MSU has opened 18-2, and their only losses have come against top-10 teams - No. 5 Duke and No.
7 Nebraska - the latter on the road.
Michigan State has stacked up quality wins, including victories over top-50 KenPom teams like Arkansas, Kentucky, North Carolina, Iowa, Indiana, and Washington. This is a team that’s battle-tested and balanced, with a veteran core leading the way.
Jeremy Fears, a redshirt sophomore, has taken a major leap this season. He led the way in MSU’s 91-48 rout of Maryland with 17 points and 17 assists - the latter tied for the second-most in program history.
Fears has 155 assists on the season, a number only four players in Rutgers history have ever reached in a full year, and just once since 1978. He’s become the engine of an offense that shares the ball and spreads the scoring load.
MSU’s leadership is anchored by four veteran captains: Coen Carr, Carson Cooper, Jaxon Kohler, and Fears. Together, they account for over 60% of the team’s scoring and more than half of the team’s rebounding and assists.
Carr, a junior, is on the Julius Erving Award Watch List, which honors the nation’s top small forward. Cooper and Kohler, both fourth-year seniors, bring durability and experience, with Kohler having played over 110 games in a Spartan uniform.
Kohler also leads the team in rebounding at 9.9 boards per game, and the Spartans are a top-10 team nationally in both rebounding margin and scoring defense - a classic Izzo blueprint.
The Series
This will be the 18th meeting between Rutgers and Michigan State, and while the Spartans dominated the early years of the rivalry - winning the first 11 - Rutgers has taken three of the last six. That includes two blowout wins: a 21-point victory and a 30-point drubbing in the past five seasons.
The last time Michigan State visited Jersey Mike’s Arena was back on February 5, 2022. Rutgers handed the then-No.
13 Spartans an 84-63 loss, with Paul Mulcahy posting his first career double-double (15 points, 12 assists). The year before, Rutgers won 67-37 at home in one of the most dominant defensive performances in program history.
Last season’s lone meeting came at Madison Square Garden, where Michigan State edged Rutgers 81-74. With Dylan Harper limited to just 14 minutes, Jordan Derkack stepped up with a career-best 26 points. But MSU got a strong showing from eventual first-round NBA pick Jase Richardson, who scored 20.
What’s at Stake
A win Tuesday night would be Rutgers’ first ranked victory of the season and only their second ever against Michigan State. It would also mark their highest-ranked win over the Spartans and their second top-15 win in the series, joining that 2022 upset over No.
13 MSU. More broadly, it would be the sixth top-10 win under head coach Steve Pikiell and the first since last February’s win over No.
9 Wisconsin.
After Tuesday, Rutgers heads west for a tough road swing in California, facing USC on Saturday and UCLA next Tuesday. But before they board that flight, they’ve got a shot to make a statement at home - and maybe flip the script on their season.