Michigan State Falls in Exhibition at UConn, 76-69

No. 22 Michigan State fell to No. 4 Connecticut, 76-69, in an exhibition game in Storrs on Tuesday night.

It is the second of two exhibitions the Spartans will play before the official start of the 2025-26 season. MSU's first game that will count to its record is against Colgate on Monday, Nov. 3.

The Huskies led the entire game, using a 14-4 run to jump out to an early lead and then neither looked back.

Michigan State was never closer than seven to UConn from that point forward, which shows the final score was closer than how the game really went.

First Half

Oct 28, 2025; Hartford, CT, USA; Connecticut Huskies head coach Dan Hurley during the first half against the Michigan State Spartans at PeoplesBank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark Smith-Imagn Images | Mark Smith-Imagn Images

Michigan State got off to a really slow start, particularly on offense. Ten minutes into the game, UConn was up 19-9. The Spartans were only 2-for-12 from the field across that span, both makes being threes.

During the later portions of the initial 20 minutes, MSU was able to settle in a lot more. Despite tons of foul calls that seemed to disrupt the flow of the game, the team looked more comfortable offensively as time went on. There were 38 total free-throw attempts during the first half; 22 for the Spartans, 16 for UConn.

The Huskies were able to maintain a semi-comfortable lead during the rest of the first half, though. MSU never got closer than eight during the final 10 minutes of the half, and the Huskies led 44-33 at halftime.

Jeremy Fears Jr. was MSU's top scorer during the first half, scoring nine after going 7-for-8 at the free-throw line. Carson Cooper had six points and seven rebounds.

Second Half

As the latter portion of the game began, UConn kept trying to keep its lead in double figures, while Michigan State tried to put together a comeback attempt.

MSU kept hanging around, getting it to an eight-point game with 13 minutes to go, but Connecticut kept finding buckets before Michigan State could string them together.

At that point, the Huskies threw the metaphorical knockout punch, going on an 11-0 run that made the Spartans' deficit 19 points with 11 and a half minutes remaining.

MSU still made things a bit interesting down the stretch. The Spartans got the difference within single digits headed into the final TV timeout, but the comeback was too little, too late. UConn stopped Michigan State's run there and ultimately won, 76-69.

Notable MSU Performances

Jeremy Fears Jr.: 14 points, 6 assists, 3 steals, 6 turnovers | 10-for-13 FTs

Carson Cooper: 12 points, 10 rebounds

Jaxon Kohler: 10 points, 13 rebounds

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