Michigan State basketball to face Tennessee in charity game to support Hawaii

This was previously a closed scrimmage. However, due to the recent wildfires in Maui, the Spartans and Volunteers are coming together for a worthy cause. You just love to see it.

It should come as no surprise that Izzo feels a great closeness to the city of Maui. He is a big proponent of prominent matchups in unique locations. We know his mantra well: “Anyone, anytime, anyplace.” No event captures that energy better than the Maui Invitational, one of the premier holiday tournaments over Thanksgiving weekend.

MSU has participated in the Maui Invitational five times: 1991, 1995, 2005, 2010, and 2019. They are scheduled to appear again in 2024 alongside Auburn, Colorado, Dayton, Iowa State, Memphis, North Carolina, and UConn. Their lone Maui title was against Arkansas in 1991, and they are 11-5 overall in the event.

Also of note, this is the second consecutive year of MSU and Tennessee hosting a scrimmage, with last year’s matchup taking place in Knoxville. The Volunteers came back to win the game with an unofficial score of 84-79. MSU entered receiving a handful of top 25 votes whereas Tennessee boasted a No. 11 preseason ranking. Izzo indicated that the Spartans held their own against what he called a “big-time team”.  Last offseason, MSU was quite banged up, but this year should be a much different story.

This year, most preseason pundits are pegging Michigan State basketball as a top-five team and Tennessee as a top-10 team.

The Volunteers return all-SEC shooting guard Santiago Vescovi, as well as veteran power forward Josiah Jordan-James. They played the last month of the season without point guard Zakai Zeigler, who tore his ACL. They also added Dalton Knecht, a sharpshooter transfer from Northern Colorado.

The Spartans will certainly see their fair share of non-conference tests between Duke, Arizona, and Baylor. This should provide them with yet another high-quality opponent.

At the same time, MSU can gather a raucous crowd in the Breslin and raise some money to help support the suffering Lahaina community.

It offers an opportunity to unite our passion for the sport and do some legitimate good in the world. This is what basketball is all about, folks.