VESTAL, N.Y. - Binghamton men's basketball will record an historic "first" when the Bearcats face No. 1 Michigan State Sunday night in East Lansing. The Bearcats (0-1) and Spartans (0-1) tip at 7 p.m. at the Breslin Center. The game will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network. It's the first time in the 73-year history of the program that BU will face the top-ranked team in the nation. 

Binghamton opened the season on Tuesday with an 84-64 loss at Cornell. Senior forward Pierre Sarr led the Bearcats with a career-high tying 16 points, senior guard Richard Caldwell, Jr. had 12 points and freshman forward George Tinsley added 10 points and five rebounds. Binghamton trailed by seven at the break before the Big Red used a 9-0 run to pull away. 

Michigan State opened with a 69-62 loss to No. 2 Kentucky in the Champions Classic Tuesday at Madison Square Garden. Senior guard and preseason All-American Cassius Winston led MSU with 21 points. The Spartans return three starters and eight of their top-11 scorers from a 32-7 team that went to the NCAA Final Four last season. 

After Sunday night's game, BU has a quick turnaround before traveling to New York City for Wednesday's game at Columbia. 

About MSU
•    AP Preseason No. 1 for first time in school history
•    Reigning Big Ten Player of Year Cassius Winston (18.8 ppg., 7.5 apg.) is a consensus AP Preseason All-American
•    Spartans have won last two Big Ten titles and have made 22 straight NCAA tournaments
•    In 24 seasons, Head Coach Tom Izzo has 606 wins (25/season) and has produced 20 NBA Draft picks and is an eight-time National Coach of the Year 
•    Michigan State is 410-60 (87%) all-time at the Breslin Center

All-time series vs. MSU
•    MSU won the first matchup between the two programs, 76-33, on Dec. 5, 2015 in the Breslin Center
•    In that game, No. 3 MSU led 41-12 at half and rolled to the 43-point win 
•    It was BU's most lopsided loss in 12 games against nationally-ranked opponents

Binghamton vs. ranked opponents
•    This will be the 13th time Binghamton plays a nationally-ranked opponent and the eighth time it plays a top-five team
•    This is the first time BU plays a No. 1 team
•    The highest-ranked opponent BU has faced was No. 2 Michigan, last Dec. 30, 2018. The host Wolverines won 74-52
•    The closest game BU has ever played against a ranked opponent was a 21-point loss to No. 19 Syracuse on Dec. 3, 2003 (75-54) 

Binghamton vs. Big Ten
•    This will be the seventh time BU has faced an opponent from the Big Ten
•    BU is 0-6, having lost three times at Michigan (2004, 2012, 2018) and once each at Michigan State (2015), Northwestern (2018) and Penn State (2017)