A scarlet-clad crowd of roughly 16,000 fans crammed into Madison Square Garden on Saturday while another few million tuned into the national broadcast on CBS. Diehard fans and curious observers alike tuned into the monster matchup between Rutgers’ five-star freshmen and Michigan State,

Freshman guard Jase Richardson scored a career-high 20 points and No. 8 Michigan State rolled to its 12th consecutive victory, beating Rutgers 81-74 at Madison Square Garden.

Michigan State basketball has not had their fair share of luck at Madison Square Garden, but on Saturday, their luck changed. The Spartans defeated Rutgers inside of MSG, 81-74. The Spartans played their type of game, and controlled the pace of play for the majority of the contest.

Despite Harper being out of the starting lineup and center Emmanuel Ogbole done for the season due to a knee injury, Rutgers started strong by scoring 10 straight early. Michigan State countered with a 16-1 run to take a double-digit lead as the Scarlet Knights missed 11 straight shots.

Rutgers top freshmen Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey lead the Scarlet Knights against No. 8 Michigan State in Big Ten basketball action, Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025, at Madison Square Garden. Harper suffered an apparent ankle injury and did not play much in the second half.

It’s been nearly two years since Rutgers saw a promising season end on the floor of Madison Square Garden. In 2023, Mawot Mag suffered a knee injury in a game against Michigan State. The Scarlet Knights won the game but lost Mg for the remainder of the season.