It’s a doubleheader of Big Ten men’s basketball on Peacock tonight, Thursday January 4th, kicking off at 7pm ET with the Penn State Nittany Lions visiting the Michigan State Spartans. After that, the Michigan Wolverines host the Minnesota Golden Gophers at 9pm ET. See below for everything you need to know for tonight’s game between Penn State and Michigan State, including start time, streaming info and key storylines.
Penn State has won three of its last four games and will be playing its first Big Ten matchup since an 83-80 win over Ohio State on December 9th. Meanwhile the 8-5 Spartans enter Thursday on a four-game winning streak, but still seeking their first win against a conference opponent (Michigan State is 0-2 in the Big Ten).
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Penn State’s sophomore guard Kanye Clary is making a big impact this season - he’s tallied 20+ points in seven games this season, which trails only Purdue superstar Zach Edey for most such games by a Big Ten player (Edey has 9 such games). Alongside Edey is senior Ace Baldwin Jr, who leads the conference with 2.7 steals per game and is also averaging 13.6 points per game. He’s one of the big reasons Penn State has been so effective in generating turnovers: The Nittany Lions lead the Big Ten in both steals forced per game (9.3) and turnovers forced per game (16.9).
Despite a solid record overall and a four-game win streak entering tonight, the Spartans are winless in the Big Ten and eager to avoid an 0-3 start to conference play this season. A likely key to that effort will be senior guard Tyson Walker, who as of Thursday is third in the Big Ten in scoring, averaging a team-leading 20.0 points per game (he sits behind Purdue’s Zach Edey and Illinois’ Terrence Shannon Jr.).
“(He’s a) special guy you know,” Michigan head coach Tom Izzo said of Walker in December. “Reminds me of Gary Harris back in the day and plays both ends hard as hell and we even need him more than we did Gary offensively.”
While he’s still five games away and won’t hit it tonight, Izzo is closing in on a milestone: his 700th career win. He stands at 695 entering Thursday’s matchup. Only eight active head coaches have hit the 700-win mark in Division I men’s college basketball.
LIVE STREAM: Minnesota vs Michigan Men’s Big Ten Basketball Game
How to watch Penn State basketball vs Michigan State
- Date: Today, Thursday, January 4th
- Time: 7pm ET (pregame coverage begins at 6:30pm ET)
- Location: Breslin Center, East Lansing, Michigan
- Streaming: Peacock
- Other CBB on Peacock Tuesday: Minnesota vs Michigan at 9pm ET
Men’s College Basketball Schedule on Peacock
You can watch Big Ten basketball games by first subscribing to Peacock. Then, either go to PeacockTV.com/Sports in your web browser or download the Peacock app on your phone, tablet, or streaming device and navigate to the Sports section. Find the LIVE game you want to watch and start streaming.
Eligible students can sign-up for Peacock’s Student Discount offer, available for $1.99/month. For more information and to sign-up, click here. See below for full schedule for men’s college basketball on Peacock in 2024, and click here for the full women’s schedule.
| Date | Time (ET) | Matchup |
| Thurs., Jan. 4 | 7 p.m. | Penn State vs. Michigan State |
| Thurs., Jan. 4 | 9 p.m. | Minnesota vs. Michigan |
| Tues., Jan. 9 | 7 p.m. | Indiana vs. Rutgers |
| Tues., Jan. 9 | 9 p.m. | Purdue vs. Nebraska |
| Tues., Jan. 16 | 7 p.m. | Purdue vs. Indiana |
| Tues., Jan 23 | 7 p.m. | Ohio State vs. Nebraska |
| Tues., Jan 23 | 9 p.m. | Michigan vs. Purdue |
| Tues., Jan. 30 | 7 p.m. | Illinois vs. Ohio State |
| Tues., Jan. 30 | 9 p.m. | Michigan vs. Michigan State |
| Tues., Feb. 6 | 7 p.m. | Indiana vs. Ohio State |
| Tues., Feb. 6 | 9 p.m. | Michigan State vs. Minnesota |
| Tues., Feb. 13 | 7 p.m. | Michigan vs. Illinois |
| Tues., Feb. 13 | 9 p.m. | Ohio State vs. Wisconsin |
| Tues., Feb. 20 | 7 p.m. | Iowa vs. Michigan State |
| Tues., Feb. 20 | 9 p.m. | Maryland vs. Wisconsin |
| Tues., Feb. 27 | 7 p.m. | Wisconsin vs. Indiana |
| Tues., Mar. 5 | 7 p.m. | Purdue vs. Illinois |
| Wed., Mar. 13 | 6:30 p.m. | Big Ten Tournament |
| Wed., Mar. 13 | 9 p.m. | Big Ten Tournament |