Game of the Week: Illinois vs Michigan State
UPDATE: 11:58 p.m. CST 2/4/2026
Michigan State has faced a couple of losses against Michigan and Minnesota, but now they face a No. 5 Illinois who has taken down the previously No. 5 Nebraska and Northwestern.
I recently covered Michigan State, so not too much has changed in terms of players to watch and things of that nature, but we can still take a look at both teams more recently leading into this matchup.
Illinois
Entering into February, Illinois defeated the No. 5 Nebraska, 78-69. Keaton Wagler led the team with 28 points, five rebounds, and five assists. David Mirkovic was also instrumental with eight rebounds, and Zvonimir Ivisic had seven rebounds off the bench. The defense for Illinois put up a fight despite a talented Nebraska team. Possibly the strength from the game was that Illinois kept most of the starts under 15 points each. They also out-rebounded Nebraska by 13.
Illinois defeated Northwestern 84-44 and although it may not seem like there’s much to gather for an upcoming top 10 showdown, there actually is. It showed that Illinois has some depth in the bench when Ben Humrichous and Zvonimir Ivisic both scored 13 points each and both had seven rebounds. The Fighting Illini has depth and combined that with an already talented starting group with Wagler, Mirkovic, Tomislav Ivisic, Andrej Stojakovic, and Jake Davis.
Players to watch: David Mirkovic, Keaton Wagler, and Zvonimir Ivisic.
Michigan State
Michigan State has had a rough go since we covered them leading up to rivalry game against Michigan. The Spartans lost 83-71 against the Wolverines. While the Spartans matched Michigan in rebounds and assists, the game came down to points from the field (and free throws). Michigan also outshot Michigan State from three-point range. Still, Jeremy Fears Jr. had a hell of a game with 31 points, five rebounds, and seven assists. However, the rest of the team struggled to score. In terms of defense, the Spartans struggled to contain Yaxel Lendeborg and Elliot Cadeau.
Although a loss to Michigan might be expected, the 76-73 loss to Minnesota was an upset. Minnesota is an 11-12 team, so it was quite shocking to see the Spartans go down. Fears Jr. uncharacteristically only scored 10 points in the game. Jordan Scott and Coen Carr had the most points with 15 and 16 respecitively. The main reason for the loss was that even though Michigan State shot the ball more, they also had worse shooting percentages.
FG%:
Michigan State: 45%
Minnesota: 48%
3FG%:
Michigan State: 38%
Minnesota: 48%
Players to watch: Jeremy Fears Jr. (maybe?), Jordan Scott, and Coen Carr.
UPDATED:
With Tom Izzo threatening to bench Fears Jr. after he was accused of “dirty tactics”, according to ESPN, this puts Michigan State in an even worse spot for the top 10 matchup. “I don’t even know if I’m going to start him the next game,” Izzo said per ESPN.
This comes after the Minnesota game where Fears was given a technical foul after a review showed that Fears’ foot hit Langston Reynolds’ groin. Fears was benched after the technical. I was originally going to mention Fears’ foul troubles in this game, and I had no idea that any of this had occurred when I originally wrote this. Fears was also accused of trying to trip Lendeborg.
Prediction: Michigan State is clearly having some struggles towards the tail end of the season, so I predict Illinois to win this game. The Fighting Illini seem to be hitting a stride at the perfect time with a win against Nebraska and a dominant win against Northwestern. Now, with added context of the issues with Fears, I don’t think Michigan State will win this game against Illinois. The Spartans’ season is on a downward spiral.
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