Michigan State basketball: Series history vs. Stony Brook

Michigan State basketball welcomes Stony Brook to the Breslin Center on Thursday night. Have these two ever met before?

Michigan State basketball finally seems to have turned a corner. They are on a two game winning streak after dismantling both Baylor and Oakland. Next up for the Spartans are the Stony Brook Seawolves.

Surprisingly, there has been one meeting between us and the Seawolves before their game on Thursday night.

Let’s take a look at that previous matchup before these programs face off again.

Michigan State won the only meeting

Michigan State and Stony Brook have faced off one time in their history. Back in the beginning of the 2017-18 season, the Spartans defeated the Seawolves 93-71.

This game was dominated by our quartet of sophomores at the time. Nick Ward led the way for the second-ranked Spartans with a dominant 22 point, 11 rebound double-double. Miles Bridges also added 20 points while Joshua Langford poured in a then career high 19 points. Lastly, Cassius Winston helped control the game with 13 points and six assists.

This game was a lot closer than the final score would suggest. The Spartans trailed for most of the first half before a late run gave them a small lead at the half. Stony Brook kept the game within six points into the second half before a 7-0 run ballooned the Spartans lead. The Seawolves didn’t give up and cut the lead back to single digits. But this time Michigan State went on a 9-0 run and coasted to victory.

Stony Brook season update

Stony Brook hasn’t had the best season so far this year. The Seawolves also sit at 6-5 on the season, but the strength of their record is very low. Stony Brook hasn’t beat a noteworthy team all season and they also have some bad losses against some bad teams as well. However, their confidence is riding high as they are currently on a four game winning streak.

This will be the Spartans last game before a break around Christmas, so Tom Izzo needs to keep his team focused. Many teams have a let down game right before Christmas break, but we can’t afford to have that this year. The slow start to our season means we can’t lose any games like this the rest of the season.

If the Spartans come out focused, this should be a very easy win for them and hopefully we can cruise into our Christmas break.