Michigan State’s young guards flash confidence in opening night win

The Michigan State men’s basketball team had some big shoes to fill this offseason with the losses of Jase Richardson and Jaden Akins to the NBA along with Tre Holloman to the portal. That left the team with just point guard Jeremy Fears Jr. as the lone backcourt contributor back from last year’s Big Ten Champion squad that advanced to the Elite Eight.

Heading into the 2026 campaign, it was unclear who would step up out of the new faces and underclassmen. At least in the season opener, enter freshman Jordan Scott and sophomore Kur Teng. While the new campaign is still very young, both new players showed promising signs of what’s to come the rest of the season. 

Teng, who only played in 19 games as a true freshman but primarily in mop up duty, earned his first career start on Monday night against Colgate. While the young guard did not light up the box score, he possessed a clear level of confidence in his ability. 

Early in the game, while both teams were settling into things, Teng launched a three that gave the Spartans a 5-3 lead. Teng, who has been long talked about as one of the best shooters on the team, finally got his chance to showcase that.