MSU Able to Keep Foot on the Pedal, Soundly Defeats FAU to Win Fifth Straight
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- It took a little while, but once No. 20 Michigan State found consistency on both ends of the court, the outcome of its matchup with Florida Atlantic on Saturday was never in doubt.
The Spartans treated their home crowd with an 86-69 victory, along with an incredible outing from sophomore forward Coen Carr. Carr led Michigan State with a career-high 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting. He also added eight rebounds, a steal and a block.
Carr was one of four Spartans to finish in double figures in the scoring column. The others were redshirt freshman guard Jeremy Fears Jr. and senior guard Jaden Akins, who each scored 13, and senior forward Frankie Fidler, who posted 10.
Michigan State came out looking like it was on its way to a big lead early on, putting together an 8-0 run to answer FAU's triple that drew first blood.
But the Owls had different plans, as the visitors flipped a switch and went on a 7-0 run out of the first media timeout, taking a 10-8 lead with nearly 5-and-a-half minutes played.
The run was ended with a triple from freshman guard Jase Richardson, his first of two on the day.
Not too long after, FAU went on another run, one that would put it up 3 with 10:44 to go in the half. That was the most the Owls would ever lead by.
A 6-0 run from the Michigan State would give it a 3-point lead of their own, but the Owls quickly deleted that to even the game at 20 apiece.
The Spartans would then go an 8-0 run, one that included three straight jams that brought the house down -- two from none other than Carr and one that came in between from senior center Szymon Zapala, who was fouled. He would go on to make the free throw and convert the and-1.
The run gave Michigan State a 7-point lead, its largest of the half until that point. But FAU wouldn't go away, cutting the lead down to 3 with 4 unanswered points.
But Fears would silence the brief surge from the Owls, converting an and-1 that would ignite an 11-2 run that put Michigan State up 12.
The Spartans would head into halftime with a 13-point lead.
Michigan State carried its momentum over into the second half, scoring the first 4 points of the half to stretch its lead to 17.
But the Owls responded with 6 unanswered points, trimming the Spartans' lead to just 11.
That resiliency continued throughout for FAU, but Michigan State would eventually start to get hot from deep.
The Spartans made six triples in the second half, including a rare one from Carr, which had all but seemed to seal the deal as it gave Michigan State its largest lead of the game, 18, with just than 5 minutes remaining.
FAU kept fighting, but Michigan State would ultimately go on to earn its 10th win of the season, extending its win streak to five while remaining undefeated at home.
The Spartans will have one last game before the new year when it hosts Western Michigan on Dec. 30.
Don’t forget to follow the official Spartan Nation Page on Facebook Spartan Nation WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE, and be a part of our vibrant community group Go Green Go White as well WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE.
