THIBODAUX, La. – After earning its first win of the season on Monday night, the Nicholls State University men's basketball team travels to East Lansing, Mich., to take on the No. 13/14 Michigan State Spartans at 11 a.m. in the Breslin Center.
 
Saturday's contest will be televised live on the Big Ten Network, and is one of two possible broadcasted games on the network, as the Colonels' contest against Nebraska at the end of the month will be on BTN or BTN.com.
 
Nicholls snapped a five-game losing streak dating back to last season with the 92-79 win over UNO on Monday, improving the Colonels' record to 1-2 on the season. Nicholls has won the last three meetings over the Privateers dating back to 2007, as head coach J.P. Piper has never lost to New Orleans during his career at Nicholls. Nicholls will play UNO once more this season, playing in the refurbished Lakefront Arena on Dec. 12.
 
The Nicholls trio of Fred Hunter, Sam McBeath and T.J. Carpenter has been the driving force offensively for the Colonels so far this season, as Hunter had his third 20-point performance in as many games on Monday night currently averaging 21.7 points per game so far this season. McBeath and Carpenter have each scored double-digit points in all three contests as well, averaging 12 points per game a piece.
 
The Colonels got 29 points from their bench in the win over the Privateers, getting an early career performance from freshman JaMarkus Horace in only his second game in uniform. Horace scored 17 points in just 15 minutes off of the bench, going 7-of-11 from the field while making 3-of-4 free throw attempts.
 
The game on Saturday against the Spartans will begin a month-long road trip for the Colonels, as the team will not play another game in Stopher until the start of Southland Conference play on Jan. 3. The team will take on Tulane next week and UNO the week after, before the three-game World Vision Challenge hosted by Utah State and final non-conference tilt against Nebraska in the last two weeks of December.
 
Michigan State enters the game on Saturday at 5-2 on the year after having its five game winning streak snapped on Wednesday night in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge with a 67-59 loss against Miami. The 59 points were a season low for the Spartans, as the team is averaging just 66.3 points per game this season, and below 62 points in their two losses.
 
Keith Appling has been the mainstay in the Michigan State lineup, as the team has had numerous starting five's due to a rash of injuries just seven games into the year. Appling has scored double figures in six of the seven, averaging over 16 points and 36 minutes a game in his junior season.
The pregame show on the Colonel Sports Radio Network begins at 10:45 a.m.
 
 
TV: Big Ten Network
Radio: 100.3 FM KLRZ (Larose, La); 1600 KLEB (Golden Meadow, La.)
Broadcast Team: Mike Wagenheim (play-by-play)
Colonels on the Internet: www.klrzfm.com
Live Stats: www.msuspartans.com