• Top-ranked Michigan State and No. 9/9 Ohio State will meet in the Big Ten Tournament final on Saturday. The teams finished first and third, respectively, in the Big Ten regular season standings. The Spartans advanced with a 1-0 semifinal victory over Notre Dame; Ohio State comes in off a overtime win in the semifinal over Penn State, 4-3. 

• At 25-6-4, top-ranked MSU has tied its win total from a year ago, and claimed a share of its second consecutive Big Ten Championship and looks to become the only team in league history to win the regular-season and tournament titles in consecutive seasons. The Big Ten postseason awards were announced on Tuesday, headlined by Big Ten Player of the Year Isaac Howard and Goaltender of the Year Trey Augustine. Both are First Team honorees along with junior blueliner Matt Basgall, who also earned the Sportsmanship Award. Junior Karsen Dorwart earned Honorable Mention honors for the second consecutive season.

• In addition to Big Ten Player of the Year, Isaac Howard has advanced into the Hobey Baker Top Ten. The Big Ten scoring champion, he has delivered 24 goals and 47 points – third in the country in goals, eighth in points and third in both points (1.34) and goals per game (0.69). His 100th career point was MSU’s lone score in last week’s semifinal victory over Notre Dame. 

• Trey Augustine is a finalist for both the Mike Richter Award as the top goaltender in Division I hockey and also the AAU Sullivan Award as the nation’s top amateur athlete. On Tuesday, he added Big Ten Goaltender of the Year honors as well as a First Team All-Big Ten nod. The sophomore leads the Big Ten in wins (18, eighth NCAA), save percentage (.925, 11th NCAA) and goals against average (2.02, 12th NCAA), and is third in games played (28), minutes played (1695:28), and third in saves (723). Augustine and the Spartans have not lost back-to-back games in 2024-25; he has completed every one of his starts and has no penalty minutes. 

 • Matt Basgall earned All-Big Ten honors for the first time in his career, and was also a finalist for Big Ten Defenseman of the Year honors. With 26 points, the junior is third on the team in points and is second to Howard with 20 assists. He had a helper on Howard’s goal against Notre Dame in the B1G semis. Basgall has matched or surpassed his single-season bests in goals, assists, and points, and ranks third among B1G blueliners in points (25) and second in points per game (0.74).

• Karsen Dorwart earned Honorable Mention All-Big Ten kudos. The junior has points in each of his weekend series this season, including the primary assist on the Howard power play goal against the Irish in the semifinals. He has a 11-16-27 scoring line (third in goals and second in points) and he owns a +19 rating, tied for tops among forwards. He recorded 22 of his 27 points in Conference play; over the last 22 games, Dorwart has averaged nearly a point per game (9-11-20), with two game-winners. Since the start of December, he has not gone back-to-back games without a point.