Michigan State Spartans

How the Spartans play under each referee

Every Spartans game grouped by individual referee. Over this sample the Spartans are 134-68 (66.3%); each ref win rate below is compared to that team average.

Updated Aug 22, 2026, 9:10 p.m.·2020-2026 (2020-11-25 – 2026-03-28)

Spartans record: 134-68 (66.3%)

Officials with enough games overlap across crews; combined team-official games (432) exceed 202 unique team matches. Table lists refs with 8+ games.

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Michael Irving
+33.7 pts vs team-2.2
Lewis Garrison
+24.6 pts vs team-2.2
James Breeding
+15.5 pts vs team-0.1
Bill Ek
+15.5 pts vs team+0.1
Robert Riley
+11.5 pts vs team-0.8
Edwin Young
+11.5 pts vs team+1.4
Earl Walton
+8.7 pts vs team-2.3
Larry Scirotto
+6.4 pts vs team-0.5
Randy Richardson
+6.4 pts vs team-0.7
D.J. Carstensen
+6.2 pts vs team+0.1
Brian Dorsey
+1.3 pts vs team-1.1
Jeffrey Anderson
+0.4 pts vs team-0.8
Donnie Eppley
+0.4 pts vs team+1.9
Tim Comer
-2.7 pts vs team-1.5
John Floyd
-3.8 pts vs team-2.7
Keith Kimble
-6.3 pts vs team-0.7
Don Daily
-6.3 pts vs team+0.0
Rob Kueneman
-8.0 pts vs team-2.2
Terry Oglesby
-9.2 pts vs team+0.3
Kelly Pfeifer
-10.3 pts vs team+0.4
Doug Sirmons
-11.8 pts vs team+0.5
Paul Szelc
-13.9 pts vs team+0.3
Courtney Green
-13.9 pts vs team+2.0
Steve McJunkins
-21.9 pts vs team+3.2
Bo Boroski
-27.8 pts vs team+2.0

Tight-game proxy

How Michigan State Spartans compares in tight final-margin games vs the full sample. Based on official box scores, not last-two-minute reports.

Close games (≤5 pt margin)

49 of 202 games match this window

Avg combined points
Tight-game avg
138.1
Season avg
142
Pressure impact
-3.9
Avg fouls
Tight-game avg
34.1
Season avg
34.7
Pressure impact
-0.6
Over rate
Tight-game avg
32.7%
Season avg
39.6%
Pressure impact
-6.9 pp

Over benchmark: 145.3 combined points · Seasons: 2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23, 2023-24, 2024-25, 2025-26 · 202 total games in sample

Pregame toss-ups (spread ≤5.5)

What am I looking at?

Individual refs: stats for one official across all Spartans games they worked, even with different partners.
Team baseline: the Spartans went 134-68 (66.3%) across this sample. Ref win rates show how they compare to that team average.
Whistle differential: who gets called more. A positive number means opponents are whistled more often than the Spartans.

Scores, fouls, and referee crews from ESPN (9885 games across 80 tracked programs, 6047 with sportsbook totals). Coverage: 2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23, 2023-24, 2024-25, 2025-26. Matrix: 4078/8349 ref×team pairs with 3+ games. 69 games skipped (no officials listed). 0 games skipped (outside live conference gate). Ref game counts rebuilt from DISTINCT game_id in game logs.