Where: State Farm Center, Champaign, Illinois

TV: ESPN2

Radio: 94.9 WMMQ-FM (Lansing)

Line: MSU -10

Key players: Guard Ayo Dosunmu (6’5”, 185, Chicago), Guard Trent Frazier (6’1”, 170, Wellington, Florida).

The men's basketball team (18-4, 9-2 Big Ten) looks to rebound after its first two conference losses of the season Tuesday night by traveling to face a surging Illinois Fighting Illini (7-15, 3-8 Big Ten). While the Illini started the Big Ten season 0-5, they have won two of their last three, against Maryland and Nebraska.

The Illini are led by a pair of young guards, Dosunmu and Frazier, who are both averaging over 13 points per game. On paper, the Illini look to have a massive disadvantage on the glass as MSU ranks first in the Big Ten in rebounding while Illinois is dead last. However, the Spartans are coming off two straight disappointing efforts in that respect, being out-rebounded in losses to Purdue and Indiana.

Illinois is second-to-last in the conference in turnovers, a result of its tendency to play a lot of isolation basketball. Dosunmu and Frazier are talented individual players — a good comparison would be Nebraska’s guard tandem of Glynn Watson, Jr. and James Palmer, Jr. However, the Illini have thus far struggled to establish any inside presence in its second year under head coach Brad Underwood.

The Spartans, by contrast, are still in a three-way tie for first place in the Big Ten despite their struggles of late. After winning, and covering the spread, in their first nine conference games, they have lost two straight as favorites, including as a double-digit favorite at home against Indiana Saturday night. For MSU, the challenge will be re-establishing its dominance on the glass, and getting back to the good free throw shooting they had displayed all year until Saturday’s 8-for-22 performance from the line.

With only 6-foot-9 freshman Giorgi Bezhanishvili as a post defender (the Illini often employ a four-guard lineup), look for the Spartans to try to get junior forward Nick Ward back on track. While the big man is the second-leading scorer on the team, he has struggled in three of the last four games. Expect Michigan State to try to bang it from inside, while the Illini rain threes from the perimeter.

Michigan State leads the all-time series 61-59, and swept the Illini in two meetings last season.