Popular Analytics Site Ranks MSU Defense Best in Nation
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Scoring against a Tom Izzo-coached team is never easy. That appears to especially be true this season.
Shortly after No. 12 Michigan State's 80-63 victory over Washington on Saturday, the popular college basketball analytics site "KenPom" updated, as it does after every game. The Spartans' defensive performance was good enough that it made them the site's No. 1 defensive team in the entire country.
MSU actually took the top spot away from its arch-rival, Michigan. The Wolverines are still KenPom's No. 1 overall team, though. Either way, the looming Jan. 30 rivalry matchup in East Lansing looms as college basketball's ultimate slugfest between the nation's two best defensive teams.
KenPom's official adjusted defensive rating for MSU is 90.3, as of Sunday afternoon. That essentially is what the site projects the Spartans would allow across 100 possessions against an average Division I team. There is a lot of season left, but Michigan State hasn't finished as the nation's top defensive squad since KenPom's inception for the 1996-97 season.
Breaking Down MSU's Elite Defense
In terms of the raw stats, regarding points per possession, KenPom says Michigan State's defense ranks 11th. But schedules are not built the same in college sports. The site says MSU has faced the sixth-toughest slate in the country in terms of the offenses that it has faced.
Already, the Spartans have gone up against Duke (ninth-ranked offense), Arkansas (10th), and Nebraska (22nd). Michigan State ended up only allowing 66, 66, and 58 points in those games, respectively.
During Big Ten play, it's also been MSU's defense, and then everybody else. The Spartans are allowing 91.2 points per 100 possessions through seven conference games. Nebraska is in a distant second place at 99.6. Everyone else is above 101. The gap between Michigan State and the Cornhuskers is larger than the one between Nebraska and sixth place (Illinois, 107.8).
A big reason for that has been MSU's perimeter defense. The Spartans' Big Ten opponents thus far have shot just 27.5% from beyond the arc, which is also the best mark in the conference.
Michigan State's defense also boasts the Big Ten's best effective field goal percentage against (45.4%), the conference's third-best two-point defense (49.3%), and the lowest percentage of offensive rebounds allowed (19.3%).
The Spartans' offense is only ranked 55th, for comparison. It's interesting, though, because the team's adjusted offensive rating actually improved slightly from last year --- 118.8 to 119.5 --- but the 2024-25 team finished ranked 25th offensively on KenPom.
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A 2025 graduate from Michigan State University, Cotsonika brings a wealth of experience covering the Spartans from Rivals and On3 to his role as Michigan State Spartans Beat Writer on SI. At Michigan State, he was also a member of the world-renowned Spartan marching band for two seasons.
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