Michigan State basketball: Get to know the Stony Brook Seawolves

Michigan State basketball is hosting Stony Brook on Thursday night. What do we know about the visiting Seawolves?

Michigan State basketball has one final game before they go on a week long break around Christmas. The Stony Brook Seawolves (how cool of a mascot is that?) come to East Lansing Thursday night to take on the Spartans.

Let’s take a quick look at how their season has gone before these two teams face off.

Stony Brook season in review

Stony Brook have not had the best year so far this season. They sit at 6-5 just like Michigan State, but their record however is not as strong as ours. Stony Brook hasn’t had a marquee win yet this season, with their best win being a six point win against a 7-4 Norfolk State team.

The Seawolves have only played two Power Six teams so far this season. Both games are ones they would like to forget. Stony Brook has played both St. John’s and Nebraska, with those games turning into blowout 16 and 21-point losses.

Even with their poor overall performance, the Seawolves will have some confidence heading into this game. Stony Brook is currently riding a four-game winning streak. Granted all four of those wins are against lesser quality opponents, but four wins is four wins. For a team that started slow this season, they have to be feeling good about themselves right now.

Players to look out for

The Seawolves are led by star guard Tyler Stephenson-Moore. Tyler plays about 32 minutes per game and is averaging 15.9 points an outing. Stony Brook also has three other players averaging in the double figures as well. This includes guards Aaron Clarke (12.3) and Dean Noll (10.2) as well as their center Keenan Fitzmorris (10.3).

The Seawolves as a team do a pretty decent job at taking care of the ball, averaging 11.7 turnovers per game. They also have a solid 3-point shooting percentage at 37.1%. Speaking of 3-point shooting, it’s important to note that they have two players shooting the ball lights out from deep this season. The already mentioned Tyler Stephenson-Moore is shooting the 3-ball at a blistering 48.1% which is eight-best in the country. Guard Jared Frey is also shooting the ball extremely well from deep at 42.1%.

The key for the Spartans in this game will be to slow these two down from deep and force them above their turnover average. If we can do that, there is no reason why this game shouldn’t be a 20-point point victory.