Rutgers Scarlet Knights play the No. 8 Michigan State Spartans

Michigan State Spartans (16-2, 7-0 Big Ten) vs. Rutgers Scarlet Knights (10-9, 3-5 Big Ten)

New York; Saturday, 1:30 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: No. 8 Michigan State and Rutgers square off at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York.

The Scarlet Knights are 7-4 in non-conference play. Rutgers is 5-4 in games decided by 10 or more points.

The Spartans are 9-2 in non-conference play. Michigan State has a 13-2 record against teams above .500.

Rutgers scores 76.6 points, 8.9 more per game than the 67.7 Michigan State allows. Michigan State has shot at a 47.5% clip from the field this season, 2.7 percentage points greater than the 44.8% shooting opponents of Rutgers have averaged.

The matchup Saturday is the first meeting this season for the two teams in conference play.

TOP PERFORMERS: Ace Bailey is averaging 19.9 points and 7.9 rebounds for the Scarlet Knights. Dylan Harper is averaging 13.8 points over the last 10 games.

Jeremy Fears Jr. is averaging 7.9 points and 6.4 assists for the Spartans. Jaden is averaging 14.6 points over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Scarlet Knights: 5-5, averaging 73.8 points, 35.2 rebounds, 12.9 assists, 5.5 steals and 4.7 blocks per game while shooting 44.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 74.3 points per game.

Spartans: 10-0, averaging 82.7 points, 37.5 rebounds, 19.3 assists, 5.4 steals and 6.0 blocks per game while shooting 47.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 66.0 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

The Associated Press