Late Surge From Michigan State Lifts Spartans to 77-58 Win Over Oakland
DETROIT, Mich. -- It wasn't ideal, but No. 20 Michigan State kept its win streak alive by defeating Oakland in the latest chapter of what has been an annual meeting between the in-state programs.
The Spartans found themselves struggling against the Golden Grizzlies more than the Michigan State faithful probably anticipated them to in Tuesday's contest at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, but in the end, thanks to a late scoring outbreak, the Spartans downed Oakland yet again, this time by a score of 77-58.
Another collective team effort and dominance on the glass ultimately determined the outcome. Michigan State dominated the Grizzlies on the glass, out-rebounding Oakland by 20. That production was once again led by junior forward Jaxon Kohler, who finished with a third-straight double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
The Grizzlies, who had shot just 23.3% from deep heading into Tuesday's matchup, made six baskets from beyond the arc in the first half, a huge reason they were able to be within a point of the Spartans at halftime. They finished the contest with 11.
Michigan State started the game with an early 4-0 advantage, but its lead only got as large as 6 points in the first half. It went into the break with merely a 31-30 advantage, as Oakland's zone defense proved to be effective against the Spartans through the first 20 minutes, as Michigan State turned the ball over eight times and was unable to ever get into a consistent scoring rhythm.
The Spartans made four 3-pointers in the first half, two from senior guard Jaden Akins and another pair from sophomore forward Xavier Booker, who ultimately went 3-of-5 from deep in the contest and led all scorers with a career-high 18 points.
Michigan State looked like it was about to be on its way to breaking away, as a 7-point lead early in the second half would stretch to a 10-point lead with a triple from freshman guard Jase Richardson.
But Oakland quickly battled back, as back-to-back 3s from Grizzlies guard Malco Christie helped it eventually pull back to within 3 points. Christie made four triples in the contest, though, that still wasn't a game-high; his teammate, forward DQ Cole, finished with five.
But that run didn't deter the Spartans, who put together their own, putting themselves back up by 10 less than 2 minutes later.
Michigan State's lead would stay rather consistent for about 6 minutes.
It wasn't until around 5 minutes to go that the Spartans really started to pull away, as Michigan State went on a 9-0 run that would give it an 18-point lead. That burst was ignited by a triple from Booker, which came in the midst of a 9-point burst from the young forward.
With less than 3 minutes remaining, Michigan State's backcourt of Richardson and Akins put the nail in the coffin as Richardson stole the bad and fed it to Akins, who finished the fastbreak with a monstrous slam to give the Spartans a 20-point cushion, their largest of the night.
And, of course, it was only right that Michigan State junior guard Nick Sanders, son of Detroit Lions legend Barry Sanders, made the final bucket of the game -- in the city his father became an NFL icon and one of the greatest Detroit athletes of all time.
Michigan State improves to 9-2 on the season and is now riding a four-game win streak. It will look to add to it when it hosts Florida Atlantic at home on Saturday.
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