As expected MSU will be without Freshman Maxim Strbak for the GLI as he makes the Slovakia U20 World Junior Championship roster. Strbak, like Freshman goaltender Trey Augustine will be making his 2nd appearance in the U20s.

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Relive the action from Michigan State's dominant win over No. 6 Baylor through the camera lens of Spartans Illustrated's photographer, @MarvHall, in the photo gallery below.

Team defense great. Had 15 steals 20 turnovers by Baylor. We ran the break and made them pay on turnovers. Only negative missed 10 free in the second half.

QB

Alessio

To East Carolina.

Michigan State continues to roll on the recruiting trail under new head coach Jonathan Smith, as three-star Florida defensive back/athlete Andrew Brinson IV committed to the Spartans on Sunday.

Brinson was previously committed to Oregon State under Smith, current Michigan State secondary coach Blue Adams and many other staff members who have since made the move to East Lansing, but he decommitted from the Beavers in late November after Smith took the job at MSU.It didn't take long after that for the new staff to offer Brinson a scholarship and set up an official visit to MSU. He took that visit this past weekend with his father, Andrew III, and his mother, Kenya. Before they left, Brinson pledged to the Spartans.

"Why I choose Michigan State was mainly because the coaching staff, they're all genuine people, great coaches," Brinson told Spartans Illustrated. "And the Big Ten is one of the best conferences, if not the best conference, for football, and they're only going up from where they're at now."

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EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State women’s basketball concludes a three-homestand against in-state foe Central Michigan on Sunday, Dec. 17 at 2 p.m. The Spartans are currently 7-2 this season, looking to rebound from a loss to Nebraska on Dec. 9. The Chippewas are 1-6 this season under first-year head coach Kristin Haynie. Jack Stager and Lexi Alston will be on the call for the Big Ten Plus.

• Former Spartan All-American and assistant coach Kristin Haynie is in her first season at the helm of the Chips, as well as being an assistant for CMU from 2014-17.

• This week, MSU is now sixth in the NCAA in 3-point field goal percentage, shooting 40.1 percent from beyond the arc. MSU is also sixth in the nation in field goal percentage, shooting 50.9 percent from the field.

• Michigan State head coach Robyn Fralick is nearing another career milestone. After a win against Miami (Ohio) on Dec. 3, she now holds a 199-78 career record in eight seasons as a head coach at Ashland, Bowling Green and Michigan State.

• The 24 turnovers forced by MSU against Nebraska the Spartans’ seventh game this season creating 18 or more turnovers by the opposition as part of the fifth game with 20+ miscues, including the second-straight game after a season-high 29 last time out vs. Miami (Ohio) (12/3/23), and joining 25 each in back-to-back games vs. Detroit Mercy (11/16/23) and Evansville (11/19/23.

SCOUTING CENTRAL MICHIGAN

Central Michigan comes to the Breslin Center with a 1-6 record. The Chippewas earned their first win of the season on Nov. 14 at home against Concordia-Ann Arbor. Since then, CMU has lost four-straight games, including a tight 79-76 loss to Oakland on the road on Dec. 9. The Chips are 0-5 in games away from Mt. Pleasant.

Madisen Wardell leads the team in scoring, averaging 11.1 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. Tamara Ortiz is second with 10.8 ppg. Rochelle Norris is third in the MAC in rebounding, bringing down 8.3 rpg. As a team, Central Michigan is first in the MAC in team offensive rebounds (14.2 rpg). The Chippewas are also fourth in rebound margin (-0.2).

Former Spartan All-American and assistant coach Kristin Haynie is in her first season at the helm of the Chips, as well as being an assistant for CMU from 2014-17. Haynie was an assistant at Michigan State for four seasons. Haynie earned her first career win as a head coach on Nov. 14 with a 80-57 win over Concordia-Ann Arbor.

SERIES HISTORY VS. THE CHIPPEWAS

Michigan State leads the overall series with Central Michigan 30-8 since 1973. MSU holds a 15-2 record in East Lansing with the last loss coming on Dec. 7, 1985, 86-76. On the road, the Spartans are ahead in the series 12-4. Michigan State holds a slight advantage 3-2 on neutral ground. The last neutral site game was in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in South Bend Indiana on March 23, 2019 with MSU pulling out an 88-87 nail-biter.

The last time the two teams met in East Lansing was on Dec. 18, 2020 when MSU came out on top 79-70. Michigan State used a 10-0 fourth-quarter run to pull away from a tenacious Central Michigan. The win helped former MSU head coach Suzy Merchant defeat her alma mater for the second time during her Spartan career. For the third-straight game, junior guard Nia Clouden reached the 20-point mark, scoring 21 points to go along with six assists and three steals.

LAST TIME VS CENTRAL MICHIGAN

A trio of Spartans scored 17 points, as Michigan State topped Central Michigan, 84-54, on Nov. 19, 2022 in Mount Pleasant. The Spartans had four players in double figures led by senior guard Moira Joiner, sophomore forward Isaline Alexander and junior guard Gabby Elliott, who all dropped 17 points. Joiner tied her career high with five treys, while Alexander set a new career mark with her 17 points. Graduate guard Kamaria McDaniel added 10 points. McDaniel and sophomore guard DeeDee Hagemann both led the way with four helpers each.

COMING HOME

Another familiar face on the Central Michigan bench will be assistant coach Jenna Allen, who played at MSU from 2016-19. She played in 123 games as a Spartan, starting 59 games. She averaged 8.6 points and 6.5 rebounds per game for MSU. Other familiar faces are Director of Scouting and Video Operation Jared Roane and Director of Basketball Operations Jackson Marlan, who were both on the MSU staff last season.

FRALICK NEARING MILESTONE

Michigan State head coach Robyn Fralick is nearing another career milestone. After a win against Miami on Dec. 3, she now holds a 199-78 career record in eight seasons as a head coach at Ashland, Bowling Green and Michigan State.

BY THE NUMBERS VS. NEBRASKA

• Michigan State forced 24 Nebraska turnovers, which is a season-high for the Cornhuskers, topping their previous high of 17 miscues, and Nebraska entered Saturday’s game third in the Big Ten in fewest turnovers with 94 turnovers in their previous eight games, averaging 11.75 turnovers per game, and the Spartan defense forced 10 Husker turnovers in the first half alone.

• Both of the Spartans’ losses this season have come against teams from the state of Nebraska, after an 83-69 loss to Creighton (11/24/23) in Cancun, and Saturday’s loss to the Huskers.

• Sophomore guard Theryn Hallock has set or tied a career-high scoring outing in the last three games, matching her career-best of 17 points on Saturday, tying last outing vs. Miami (Ohio) (12/3/23), which topped her earlier career-best of 14 points vs. DePaul (11/30/23).

LAST TIME OUT

Trailing by 17 with under three minutes to go, the Michigan State women’s basketball teams’ frantic comeback fell just short, falling in their Big Ten opener to Nebraska 80-74 at the Breslin Center on Saturday afternoon.

The comeback was fueled in part by the fourth-quarter performance of sophomore guard Theryn Hallock who scored nine points with two assists, two steals and a block in the final 10 minutes. For the game, Hallock matched her career with 17 points, which was set last week against Miami (Ohio). Graduate guard Moira Joiner was the only other Spartan in double figures, scoring a team-leading 18 points with four rebounds and three steals.

Preview courtesy of MSU Athletics.

Sitting at 4-4 after eight games, the Spartans are not off to the start that most expected. But, there is still a lot of time left in the season and history shows this is nothing to worry about.

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CLARION, Pa. – The Michigan State wrestling team traveled back to Clarion for the second time this season and battled back from an early 7-0 deficit, defeating Clarion University, 25-13 on Saturday night.

MSU has opened the season with five straight wins and sits at a perfect 5-0, Clarion dropped its fifth dual of the season and falls to 3-5.

"It was a good team win," Michigan State head wrestling coach Roger Chandler said. "We knew Clarion was going to bring the fight as they battled all the way through. I was really proud of how the team stayed in each of their matches and didn't let the early deficit affect them."

The Golden Eagles claimed three of the first four matches of the night, winning at 125, 133 and 149 pounds. Redshirt senior 141-pounder Jordan Hamdan got the Spartans on the board for their first victory of the night, winning his fifth-straight bout with bonus points. Hamdan spent the early part of the first period feeling out his opponent before attacking for a takedown and rolling Clarion's Easton Toth to his back for a four-point near fall. The redshirt senior controlled his way to a 18-2 tech fall.

No.17-ranked senior 157-pounder Chase Saldate found himself in another defensive battle against Clarion's Alejandro Herrera-Rondon as the match went into the third period scoreless. Saldate was able to escape the grasps for a two-point reversal and controlled Herrera-Rondon for riding time, walking away with a 3-0 decision. No. 10-ranked 165-pound senior Caleb Fish continued his strong start in dual season recording his fastest fall of the season. Fish pinned Trevor Elfvin at the 4:34 mark to give the Green and White its first lead of the match, 14-10.

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Clarion would narrow MSU's lead when it took the 174-pound match in a 12-8 decision to close thegap on the Spartans lead 14-13.

Michigan State would not relinquish its lead, winning three-straight (including two majors) to end the night. No. 11-ranked graduate 184-pounder Layne Malczewski made his dual debut and picked up his first win of the season with a 13-8 major decision to earn his 90th career win. At the 197-pound weight class, redshirt freshman Kael Wisler also earned a major decision by defeating Ethan Wiant, 16-3.

Redshirt Freshman 285-pounder Josh Terrill was the final bout of the night for the Spartans and faced a familiar foe in John Meyers. Meyers defeated Terrill twice last season by final scores of 3-2. Terrill earned the first point in the second period with a quick escape to take a 1-0 lead. With the score knotted at 1-1 in the third, Terrill defended a double-leg takedown attempt with less than a minute to wrestle and scored on his opponent's shot after sprawling to find a takedown of his own to earn a 4-1 decision.

The Spartans will enjoy the holiday break next week before returning for the classic Ken Kraft Midland Championships at NOW arena in Hoffman Estates, Ill. on December 29-30.

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MATCH-BY-MATCH

Michigan State 25, Clarion 13

125 | Joey Fischer (CU) major dec. Caleb Weiand (MSU) 12-4

133 | TJ England (CU) dec. Andy Hampton (MSU) 7-3

141 | Jordan Hamdan (MSU) tech fall over Easton Toth (CU) 18-2

149 | Kyle Schickell (CU) dec. Braden Stauffenberg (MSU) 9-6

157 | Chase Saldate (MSU) dec. Alejandro Herrera-Rondon (CU) 3-0

165 | Caleb Fish (MSU) fall over Trevor Elfvin (CU) 4:34

174 | John Worthing (CU) dec. DJ Shannon (MSU) 12-8

184 | Layne Malczewski (MSU) major dec. Cam Pine (CU) 13-8

197 | Kael Wisler (MSU) major dec. Ethan Wiant (CU) 16-3

285 | Josh Terrill (MSU) dec. John Meyers (CU) 4-1

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“Everybody got into it,” Izzo said. “Why? Because we were running. Why were we running? Because we defended and then we rebounded. It’s really kind of simple, but difficult to sometimes do.”

More postgame thoughts from Izzo:

How many of y’all double dipped and went to both the SPARTANs and the lions?

The new Michigan State coaching staff has re-offered 2024 tight end Dylan Mesman, he announced on Thursday night.

I can also report that new tight ends coach Brian Wozniak is coming to Saline High School on Friday as the contact period opens to visit Mesman in person.

Mesman is still solidly committed to Louisville, but the new MSU staff has quickly made him an in-state priority. Mesman is unsure at this point if he would like to schedule a visit, but he is going to give it some thought and talk it over with his family before making a decision on it.

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For those who said CTI is too old, too stubborn to adapt to changes ...... how do you like CTI now?

Michigan State recently sent out an offer to 2024 three-star quarterback and Ball State commit Alessio Milivojevic.

While the relationship is new, he is hoping to learn more about the school, football program and new coaching staff in the near future.

"To be honest I don’t know a lot (about Michigan State yet), but hope to learn more about the offense, staff and just everything about it," Milivojevic said.

It's in the early stages of the relationship, but so far, Milivojevic feels like there could be a possible connection with offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Brian Lindgren and the rest of the staff, and he is interested in pursuing things further with the Spartans.

"Coach Lindgren was very up-front and with his success at Oregon State and he seems like a very good coach," Milivojevic noted.

I was hoping the basketball team would jump start my winter. It's not happening. In fact, I didn't even turn on my Christmas tree lights last night. I sat in the dark listening to Jelly Roll on Pandora with a Manhattan w/Xtra cherries and my dog.

Michigan State dominated Baylor 88-64. A few of the players were nice enough to answer some questions from Spartans Illustrated. Check them out below!

@Sam Tyler - TillTheBitterEnd has the recap on the homepage now:

Is there still a coach in-home visit scheduled or has that already happened or is it not going to happen?

Thanks!

We will have live coverage today from Little Caesars Arena for Michigan State (4-5) against undefeated Baylor (9-0).

Tip off is just after 2 p.m. on FOX.

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Anything gonna happen? It’s still mind bottling to me that no one’s been fired over this. If I’m mistaken then please delete this thread I don’t live in Michigan 😂

For Booker, being a guy that is not in the playing rotation in big games is new for him. He’s an extremely gifted basketball player, but it has been an “adjustment” for Booker to watch the game instead of playing the game.

“I’ve been doing good,” Booker said. “Obviously it’s an adjustment so far, definitely still got a lot of work to do. (I'm) getting used to a lot of things that I haven’t been doing in my life before. So it’s definitely an adjustment, but I’m coming along, just trying to take it day-by-day, not get mad at myself, just kind of trusting the process and trusting the work I put in.”

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Michigan State has landed yet another pledge, as 2024 three-star running back
@BrandonT_26 gives his verbal commitment to the Spartans.

"Great school, and I really want to join Coach Smith and the staff to make Michigan State a powerhouse again."

More from Tullis on his decision here: