EAST LANSING, Mich. — Exhibition games rarely come with this much history. Michigan State welcomes UConn to the Breslin Center on Tuesday at 7 p.m., a preseason matchup between two top-five-caliber programs that met with a lot more on the line last March.
Tuesday’s game completes a home-and-home preseason series. UConn won the first one, 77-69 in Hartford a year ago, and the Huskies beat the Spartans again 67-63 in the Sweet 16 in Washington, D.C. The exhibition will not count in the official series, which UConn leads 5-4 since the programs first played in 1998.
The game streams only on B1G+, with a one-time $8.99 pay-per-view option for viewers without a subscription.
Michigan State is coming off a 27-8 season that included a 15-5 Big Ten record, good for a share of second place, a 28th straight NCAA Tournament bid and a second consecutive Sweet 16. The Spartans opened their preseason Oct. 2 by beating Incarnate Word 89-59, as Jeremy Fears Jr. put up 10 points and 13 assists and Jesse McCulloch scored 20.
Fears, the Big Ten preseason player of the year, led the nation in assists last season at 9.4 per game while also topping the team in scoring at 15.2. Forward Coen Carr, who started all 35 games a year ago, is also back. Michigan State has to replace both starting big men, Carson Cooper and Jaxon Kohler, and is counting on 7-foot-2 graduate center Anton Bonke, who averaged 10.6 points and 8.3 rebounds at Charlotte last season.
UConn opened its preseason with a 72-52 win over Syracuse on Oct. 13. The Huskies close their exhibition schedule against Purdue in Hartford on Oct. 27.
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