WHAT: No. 23 MSU vs. Rutgers

WHEN: 5 p.m. Sunday on RADIO/TV: WVFN (730-AM)/ESPN2

WHERE: The Louis Brown Athletic Center (capacity: 8,000) in Piscataway, N.J.

THE SERIES: MSU won the only previous meeting between the two schools, 73-71, at Breslin Center on Jan. 7, 2006, in front of 9,051 fans, which was then the fifth largest home crowd in MSU history.

Rutgers had the last possession of the game but missed a potential game-tying shot as the clock expired. MSU was the more aggressive team by far, going to the free-throw line 34 times to Rutgers' 11. It proved to be the difference of the game, as MSU shot 37.7 percent from the field while Rutgers shot 47.5 percent. Lindsay Bowen led MSU with 22 points.

RUTGERS UPDATE: The Scarlet Knights have traveled a similar path as the Spartans did, after the two teams met in January last season. Both lost in the semifinals of their conference tournaments, and both fell in the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Tournament. Since then, Rutgers has lost All-American Cappie Pondexter to graduation, and the team has struggled. While they finished last season with a 27-5 record, things haven't been as great this season, as the Scarlet Knights have compiled a 11-6 record.

Rutgers has won nine of its last 11 games, going 1-1 against ranked teams.

COMMON OPPONENTS: MSU and Rutgers have had three common opponents. Rutgers took out Penn State (57-44) on Nov. 24, Iowa (70-53) on Dec. 16 and South Florida (62-36) on Jan. 9.

MSU has defeated Iowa twice by an average of 15 points and beat South Florida by eight in December at Breslin Center.

KEY MATCHUP: Rutgers center Kia Vaughn vs. MSU freshman center Allyssa DeHaan

Vaughn, a 6-foot-4 sophomore, leads the Big East in blocks at more than three per game.

DeHaan already ranks seventh in Big Ten history in single-season blocks with 88 ejections this season.

DeHaan performed well against another tall competitor, Iowa's 6-foot-6 Megan Skouby, in two wins over the Hawkeyes during the past two weeks.