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Michigan State’s Jaxon Kohler, right, lays it in as Toledo’s Leroy Blyden Jr. defends during the first half on Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025, at the Breslin Center in East Lansing. <\/span><\/div>\n<\/section>\nNinth-ranked Michigan State is looking for improvement when it faces long-distance heaving Cornell on Monday night at East Lansing, Mich.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n The Spartans (11-1) have a stellar record, but coach Tom Izzo would like to see an upgrade to his team’s caliber of play.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n “We’ve just got to play better,” Izzo said. “These last five games, we have some guys who didn’t play as well.”<\/p>\n<\/section>\n The Spartans went 4-1 in those games, a span that includes a 66-60 home loss to Duke. But the most recent outing, a 79-70 win over Oakland on a neutral floor in Detroit, wasn’t all that grand in Izzo’s eyes.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n The contest against Cornell precedes the resumption of Big Ten play on Friday at Nebraska. The Spartans previously recorded conference wins over Iowa and Penn State.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Izzo told reporters that Cornell (6-5) presents big challenges. He sees the Big Red’s propensity for shooting 3-pointers — and making 41.6% — as a troubling component.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n “You’re going to be surprised when you see this team,” Izzo said. “They shoot 34 3s per game. … That poses problems for you. And they’re good.”<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Jaxon Kohler leads Michigan State in scoring (13.9 points per game), rebounding (10.3), 3-pointers (19) and blocked shots (14 total).<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Coen Carr averages 11.6 points and is coming off a career-best 22-point effort against Oakland.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n “(Carr) still missed some wide-open shots, but I think he got some confidence and he did get some big-time rebounds, and that’s what he’s got to play,” Izzo said. “We need him to play well if we’re going to be anything but better than we are.”<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Kohler added 13 points and 13 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the season.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n <\/p>\n Cornell will be playing just its second game in 22 days due to final exams and the holiday break.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n The Big Red’s most recent contest was an 83-75 victory over host Albany on Dec. 21.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Cornell knocked down 17 3-pointers against the Great Danes with star Cooper Noard making 5 of 6 from behind the arc while scoring 25 points.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n The senior guard is averaging 20.6 points and shooting 41% from 3-point range (34 of 83). Last season, he led the Ivy League by making 41.8% of his shots from distance.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Noard has knocked down 182 career 3-pointers and is eight away from moving into fifth place in Cornell history. Shawn Maharaj (1988-92) and Chris Wroblewski (2008-12) currently share fifth with 189.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Noard made 60 treys as a sophomore and 79 last season while averaging 13.2 points per game. That led to chatter that Noard might enter the transfer portal and find a bigger stage.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n He did look around but decided staying with the Big Red was the right move.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n “It was an easy decision,” Noard said recently. “My teammates and coaches — that’s why. I fell in love with this place through them. … It’s easy to sacrifice when you love watching your teammates succeed.”<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Cornell is averaging 14.2 3-pointers per game. The Big Red have reached double digits in nine of their 11 games, including sinking a school-record 24 in a 114-70 rout of Division III Misericordia on Nov. 26.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n For comparison, Michigan State makes 7.3 3-pointers per game and shoots 35.7%.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n This will be Cornell’s ninth road contest against just three at home.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Big Red second-year coach Jon Jaques was a member of Cornell’s memorable Sweet 16 team in 2010. The No. 12 seed defeated Temple and Wisconsin before losing to top-seeded Kentucky.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n