Unfortunately, the women's team lost its first game on Friday afternoon against Alabama, but the men will attempt to make up for that with a convincing home win on Saturday. Michigan State basketball will host FAU on Saturday afternoon with a chance to secure win No. 10.
Hopefully this game is a lot more aesthetically pleasing than the football game this past fall against the Owls to open the 2024 season. That was a rough one, but Michigan State found a way.
These Owls are 7-5 and a relatively far cry from that Final Four team we saw a couple of years ago under Dusty May. Now, Florida Atlantic is on a three-game winning streak and seemingly turning a corner after a 4-5 start to the year, but Michigan State's defense will need to step its game up if it wants to avoid a massive home upset.
FAU has one of the best offenses in college hoops, averaging over 86 points per game while shooting 37 percent from deep, so the Spartan defense will need to step up.
Let's get bold.
1. MSU's bench out-scores FAU's starters
Like Michigan State, FAU has one of the most balanced scoring attacks in the country with eight guys playing in all 12 games and each one of them is averaging over 8.5 points per game. That's about as balanced as you can get from an eight-man rotation and it's a big reason that this team is putting up over 86 points per game.
But Michigan State's bench has been one of the best in the country and it's going to continue that on Saturday with an epic showing.
Jase Richardson, Xavier Booker, and Frankie Fidler will all score in double figures off the bench while Coen Carr will approach 10 points and Carson Cooper will add a couple of buckets.
The bench will score 47 while FAU's starters combine for 44.