Michigan State's men's basketball team will host Ferris State on Wednesday, Oct. 27 in the first of two exhibition games prior to the start of the 2021-22 regular season.

Masks are required indoors for all individuals. Michigan State University requires all campus visitors, faculty, staff and students to wear a mask while indoors, regardless of vaccination status.

The game tips off at 7 p.m. and will air live on B1G+.

The Spartans return nine letterwinners from last year's team that finished 15-13 overall and 9-11 in the Big Ten and reached the NCAA Tournament for the 23rd-straight season, the second-longest active streak in Division I. MSU won five of its last seven regular season games, including three against teams ranked in the top-five of the Associated Press.

Head Coach Tom Izzo welcomes back six players who started at least five games apiece last year, led by the team's captains, senior Gabe Brown (Ypsilanti, Mich./Belleville) and junior Malik Hall (Aurora, Ill./Sunrise Christian Academy [Kan.]).

Brown appeared in 25 games last year, starting five times, and was fifth on the team in scoring with 7.2 points per game. He was second on the team in field goal percentage (47.1 percent) and led the team in 3-point percentage, connecting on 42.0 percent of his shots. He has appeared in 88 career games, averaging 5.3 points.

Hall appeared in all 28 games last year, starting nine times, and was sixth on the team with 5.2 points and fourth with 4.2 rebounds per game. He has appeared in 59 career games, averaging 4.8 points per game.

Other players who had experience in the lineup who return this year include redshirt senior forward Joey Hauser (Stevens Point, Wis./Stevens Point), who averaged 9.7 points and 5.6 rebounds and started 16 times. Also returning is senior forward Marcus Bingham Jr. (Grand Rapids, Mich./GR Catholic Central), who had five starts last year and averaged 3.5 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game, which ranked among the best in the Big Ten.

Sophomore guard A.J. Hoggard (Coatesville, Pa./Huntington Prep (W.Va.) averaged 2.5 points and 1.8 rebounds in 13.4 minutes and junior forward Julius Marble (Dallas, Texas/Dallas Jesuit) started nine games while averaging 4.0 points and 2.1 rebounds.

The Spartans also welcome junior transfer Tyson Walker (Westbury, N.Y./Christ the King), a guard from Northeastern who earned All-Colonial Athletic Association honors and was the league's defensive player of the year after averaging 18.6 points, 4.8 assists and 2.4 steals in 18 games last year.

Michigan State's freshmen class includes a trio of guards expected to make contributions immediately, Jaden Akins (Farmington, Mich./Farmington/Sunrise Christian Academy [Kan.]), Pierre Brooks (Detroit, Mich./Frederick Douglass Academy) and Max Christie (Arlington Heights, Ill./Rolling Meadows).

This will be a unique matchup for graduate guard Michael Peterson (Rockford, Mich./Rockford), who transferred to Michigan State after spending four years at Ferris State, including his freshman year when he was part of the team that won the Division II National Championship.