Michigan State 77-58 Oakland (December 17, 2024) Game Recap

DETROIT – Xavier Booker scored a career-high 18 points, Jaden Akins had 16 and Jaxon Kohler added 14 to lead No. 20 Michigan State in a 77-58 win over Oakland on Tuesday night.

The Spartans (9-2) have won four straight and seven of their last eight games.

The Golden Grizzlies (3-6) trailed by a point after a hard-fought first half that featured four ties and two lead changes.

Michigan State pulled away after halftime as Booker and Akins scored in double figures in the second half.

The Spartans held Oakland to 27.8% shooting.

DQ Cole scored 15 of his 17 points in the first half and Malcolm Christie finished the game with 15 points for the Golden Grizzlies.

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo and Oakland coach Greg Kampe wore matching green Grinch sweaters.

Faces in the crowd included Mateen Cleaves and Morris Peterson, who led the Spartans to the 2000 national championship, and Jack Gohlke, who made 10 3-pointers to help Oakland beat third-seeded Kentucky in the NCAA nine months ago. to conquer the tournament.

Takeaways

Michigan State: Booker is starting to reach his potential. The sophomore played his best game offensively, surpassing the 12 points he scored in a win over then-No. 12 North Carolina last month.

Oakland: Kampe’s teams shoot a lot of threes, and if his current team gets hot from beyond the arc, it could cause some surprises.

Key moment

Midway through the second half, Akins made a reverse layup to put the Spartans ahead by 12, and Oakland called a timeout but couldn’t slow them down.

Key statistics

Michigan State blocked a season-high 11 shots after averaging 4.2 blocks.

Next

Michigan State hosts Florida Atlantic on Saturday. Oakland plays at Cleveland State on Thursday.

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Follow Larry Lage at https://apnews.com/author/larry-lage f

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