EAST LANSING – Another quick turnaround awaits Michigan State basketball.
Thankfully for Tom Izzo and his team, this time around doesn’t require any travel. But just three days after beating USC, the 13th-ranked Spartans get back to it at Breslin Center when they host Northwestern on Thursday, Jan. 8.
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That 6:30 p.m. tipoff (BTN) comes not even a week after MSU (13-2, 3-1) dropped its first Big Ten game Friday at Nebraska late, took an overnight flight home and summarily dismantled the Trojans two days later, 80-51, on Monday night.
“I’m always concerned about it, but I didn’t see any fatigue or anything now,” Izzo said after practice Tuesday.
On the plus side for the Spartans, facing the Wildcats – who have not played since Saturday – comes in the middle of a three-game homestand, and they get four days to prepare for Indiana on Jan. 13. Then comes one of the most grueling travel portions of MSU’s schedule, with a two-game West Coast swing at Washington and Oregon, with a quick stopover at home to face Maryland followed by an East Coast jaunt to Rutgers. All before hosting No. 1 Michigan on Jan. 30.
“What happens when you coach, if we have the quick turnaround and we don’t win, then I’m gonna tell you that it was the quick turnaround,” Izzo said. And if we have a long turnaround like (the Wildcats) and we lose, then I’m gonna say we got stale and we practiced too much.
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“It’s win, or there’s something wrong. That’s for me, not you. But I think this time of the year, coming right out of Christmas, I don’t think they’re gonna be fatigued like they would be in something like this in February. I think.”
Point of emphasis vs Northwestern
Michigan State’s Divine Ugochukwu, right, moves the ball as USC’s Jordan Marsh defends during the first half on Monday, Jan. 5, 2026, at the Breslin Center in East Lansing.
There remains no question this team runs through Jeremy Fears Jr., but the point guard minute distribution remains one of the items Izzo will have to navigate as the season progresses.
Take the win over USC.
Divine Ugochukwu, who was sick and sat out the Spartans’ loss at Nebraska last Friday, started his fifth straight game at shooting guard and went to the bench at the 17:19 mark. But coming out of the first media timeout, the sophomore replaced Fears at point guard and the Spartans scored seven straight points to take the lead for good before Ugochukwu subbed out again at 12:24 and Fears replaced him.
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“I think I’m comfortable running the 1 and running the 2,” said Ugochukwu, who finished with five points and two assists in 17 minutes. “So it doesn’t really matter, whatever the team needs me to run.”
Michigan State’s Jeremy Fears Jr. slaps hands with fans while leaving the court after beating USC on Monday, Jan. 5, 2026, at the Breslin Center in East Lansing.
It was a small sample size but provided a glimpse of how Izzo might juggle the minutes when Fears is on the bench moving forward, all while keeping two ballhandlers on the floor at the same time as much as possible. Fears got one more first-half breather when senior Denham Wojcik took over for a little over a minute late in the period before Fears finished the half.
“Jeremy’s gonna play 30-some minutes a game probably, but it’s probably not gonna be 35,” Izzo said. “Because if he’s running our offense like I want him to run it, if he’s guarding like I want him to guard, if he’s pushing like I want him to push, that’s a 30-minute-a-game guy. He knows it, I know it, we know it.”
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After playing 35 minutes against the Huskers and committing two of his three turnovers in the final 2 minutes, Fears played 28 minutes against USC and had 15 points, seven assists and three giveaways in the blowout victory. Izzo said he would like Fears to average somewhere in the middle of that.
“My minutes have went up a little bit more. … But that’s kind of something I wanted,” said Fears, who is averaging 11.9 points and nine assists over 30.8 minutes in 15 games. “I wanted a bigger role coming into the year, being able to showcase the work I put in over the summer and just taking another step in my game. The coaches trust me, and that’s a compliment to me.”
Home cooking
Michigan State’s alumni Izzone celebrates after Coen Carr’s dunk against USC during the first half on Monday, Jan. 5, 2026, at the Breslin Center in East Lansing.
Taking care of business at the Breslin is how Izzo has won a record 11 Big Ten titles, tied for the most in league history with Bob Knight at Indiana and Ward “Piggy” Lambert of Purdue.
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How good have the Spartans been at home under Izzo? They have an 82.5% winning percentage against conference opponents at Breslin, 222-47 in Big Ten play, as part of Izzo’s 421-62 overall home record (87.3%) in front of the Izzone.
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For the second time in a week, though, the section that bears Izzo’s name won’t be populated by students but instead by those who’ve watched many of those games over his 31 seasons as head coach. The Izzone alumni will be in the lower-bowl stands because MSU classes don’t restart until Monday.
“That just shows you that we have a family environment here, that they’re all welcome back,” senior Jaxon Kohler said after Monday’s win in front of the alumni. “It just ties it together. … They’re always welcome back. And I can’t think of a place that does stuff like that.”
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Northwestern basketball stats
Northwestern Wildcats forward Nick Martinelli defends Michigan State Spartans guard Jeremy Fears Jr. during the first half at Welsh-Ryan Arena, Jan. 12, 2025 in Evanston, Illinois.
The Wildcats under coach Chris Collins are coming off an 84-78 home loss to Minnesota on Saturday and have only two wins so far over major conference opponents (DePaul and South Carolina). Northwestern is averaging 80.4 points a game (ranked 121st in Division I) and giving up 70.4 (107th), with December league losses at Wisconsin by 12 and at home to Ohio State by four.
The Wildcats own the nation’s best in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.11) and are second in the country at just 8.8 turnovers per game. They also rank 29th in 3-point defense (29.1%) but are among the bottom tier in 3-point shooting on offense – 19.7 attempted (301st) and 6.2 made per game (315th) while hitting just 31.5% (284th).
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Nick Martinelli, a 6-foot-7 senior forward, leads Northwestern at 23 points and 6.5 rebounds. Arrinten Page, a 6-11 junior forward and Cincinnati transfer, posts 15 points and 6.5 boards, while 5-10 junior point guard Jayden Reid, a South Florida transfer, averages 11.6 points and 5.4 assists.
Michigan State vs Northwestern basketball prediction
The Spartans get out and running early and often, with Fears pushing the pace to maximize their athletic advantage. Expect MSU to try and get its shooting guards going to try and test the Wildcats’ perimeter defense while also feeding Kohler and Carson Cooper inside for a well-rounded runaway win. The pick: MSU 85, Northwestern 69.
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State basketball vs Northwestern prediction, preview
