Baylor MBB Adds Another Marquee Contest with Michigan State

WACO, Texas – Baylor men's basketball will face Michigan State on December 16, 2023, in Detroit, head coach Scott Drew announced Friday.

The game will be played at Little Caesars Arena, home to the NBA's Detroit Pistons, before a showdown with Duke at Madison Square Garden four days later. Drew and Michigan State’s Tom Izzo are two of only six active coaches who have won NCAA Division I National Championships, while also being two of the 10 longest-tenured head coaches in Division I.

The Bears and Spartans will meet for the third time, with BU holding the 2-0 series advantage after two wins in the Battle '4' Atlantis in 2016 and 2021. The most recent meeting was a 75-58 win where guard James Akinjo scored a game-high 15 points with five assists and three steals to claim tournament MVP honors. At the time, the 17-point win by the Bears was Michigan State’s largest margin of defeat in five years.

In the first meeting, Johnathan Motley scored 20 of his game-high 26 points in the first half, while Baylor clamped down defensively in the second half to capture a 73-58 win in the Battle’4’ Atlantis semifinal. BU has won five-straight games against Big Ten opponents.

The full non-conference schedule will be announced in the coming weeks, but in addition to their game against Duke in Madison Square Garden, the Bears will participate in the NIT Season Tip-off Nov. 22-24 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. BU will open the event against Oregon State on the 22nd at 6 p.m., on ESPN 2.

Baylor will begin the season on Nov. 7 at the Sanford Pentagon against Auburn in Sioux Falls, S.D., and host a marquee non-conference home contest against Seton Hall on Dec. 5 as part of the Big East/Big 12 Battle.