How to watch Penn State basketball at Michigan State

Penn State head coach Mike Rhoades has faced plenty of Big Ten opponents through his 19 prior seasons as a college head coach. But, on Thursday evening, he’ll guide his Nittany Lions for the first time at Michigan State’s Breslin Center. 

And he couldn’t be more excited for the opportunity.

“I’m the new head coach at Penn State, from Pennsylvania, and I’m gonna get to coach my team on Thursday at Michigan State. How awesome is that?” Rhoades told reporters this week. “And just think if we win. How cool is that going to be? 

“I love road games, I love taking my team on the road. I think it’s really really hard to go in on the road in college basketball and conference play, but that’s how you set your program apart. And I’ve taken great pride in that in my career, of going into someone else’s arena or gymnasium and beating them. So, that’s the plan. That’s the goal.”

Penn State vies to knock off Michigan State

To achieve it, the Nittany Lions will need to knock off a Michigan State program riding a recent stretch of success.

After falling five times in their first nine games, the Spartans have responded with four consecutive wins, including Baylor and Indiana State. And, with two losses to open the conference season against Wisconsin and Nebraska in December, Michigan State will be looking to avoid an 0-3 start to Big Ten play. 

At the forefront of the Spartans’ attack, Penn State will need to attempt to corral guards AJ Hoggard and Tyson Walker. Averaging 20.0 points per game this season, Walker is among the nation’s most dynamic scorers while Hoggard has chipped in with 11.3 points and 5.0 assists to spur the Michigan State offense. 

“Walker can really score in bunches, score in different ways. He’s a really good isolation guy, so he can make threes off the dribble as well. But also he can get into the defense because he’s so quick to get to the rim,” Rhoades said. “He makes big plays for them. He’s got a score for them. 

“Hoggard, he is a big strong point guard that runs the show. He can score and get to the rim, but he also he sets people up. You can tell he’s an extension of his coach. He’s been there for a while. So two very good Big Ten guards, very good backcourt. We have our hands full, but I like our back court as well.”

Game time, how to watch: Penn State (7-6, NET 124) at Michigan State (8-5, NET 28)

Venue: Breslin Center
Tip time: 7 p.m. ET – Thursday, Jan. 4
TV: Peacock
Stream: Live stream on Fubo! For a limited time, new subscribers can save $20 on Fubo’s Pro, Elite and Premier plans for the first month!
On the call: Noah Eagle (play by play) & Robbie Hummel (analyst)
Radio: Penn State Sports Network – Steve Jones (pxp) & Dick Jerardi (analyst)
National radio: SiriusXM Ch. 380 & SXM App. Ch. 970
Live stats: Stats
Game Notes: Penn State

What is the Penn State-Michigan State spread?

The Nittany Lions are 13-point underdogs at Michigan State on Thursday evening. And, the over/under betting total is 146.5 points. 

Penn State injury updates

• Favour Aire is back after suffering a broken finger that kept him out until the final game of the calendar year. He played four minutes in the Nittany Lions’ win over Rider before the break. And, according to Rhoades, the big man will continue to help Penn State on the interior.
  “Just another big body, another guy that at the rim can help us rebound and get in the way. Defense at the rim, blocking shots. He is athletic. We can run the floor and can finish vertically. So that helps. Just having that other body,” said Rhoades. “If you think of some of the games where we had some foul trouble inside, that could have really helped us. The biggest thing with Fave now is, he’s still a young player. He needs time, he needs reps. We’re going to throw him in the fire and see what he does. But he needs experience and he’s gonna get that here, getting thrown in the fire here in Big Ten play.”
• Wing Nick Kern missed the Rider game and is considered “day-to-day” by Rhoades.
• Missing a full month of action with an unspecified foot injury, shooting guard Jameel Brown returned against Rider. “He’s very close to being full time back,” said Rhoades. “He has had some good practices. We wanted to get him in the Rider game, but we wanted to be careful, too. But he had a really good practice today.”