Friday, December 30
East Lansing, Mich.
6 PM
Michigan State University
9-4,1-1Big Ten
89
vs
68
Buffalo
6-7,0-0MAC
1
2
F
Buffalo
30
38
68
Michigan St.
41
48
89
Photo by: Matthew Mitchell
Four in Double Figures as Michigan State Beats Buffalo, 89-68
12/30/2022 8:15:00 PM | Men's Basketball
EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State put four players in double figures and hit 55 percent of its second half shots as the Spartans pulled away for an 89-68 win over Buffalo on Friday night at the Breslin Center.
Graduate forward Joey Hauser scored 14 points and had 12 rebounds for his fourth double-double, while tying his career high with six assists.
Junior guard A.J. Hoggard had a double-double with 11 points and 10 assists, senior forward Malik Hall returned to the lineup an added 11 points and sophomore guard Jaden Akins chipped in 13 points and three rebounds.
Records
Michigan State improves to 9-4 overall while Buffalo falls to 6-7.
Recap
Michigan State starts the New Year on Tuesday, Jan. 3, returning back to Big Ten Conference play, hosting Nebraska at the Breslin Center (7 p.m., BTN).
Graduate forward Joey Hauser scored 14 points and had 12 rebounds for his fourth double-double, while tying his career high with six assists.
Junior guard A.J. Hoggard had a double-double with 11 points and 10 assists, senior forward Malik Hall returned to the lineup an added 11 points and sophomore guard Jaden Akins chipped in 13 points and three rebounds.
Records
Michigan State improves to 9-4 overall while Buffalo falls to 6-7.
Recap
- After taking a 14-point lead in the first half and settling for an 11-point lead at the break (41-30), the Spartans saw their link shrink to three points, 41-38, following an 8-0 run capped by a layup from Buffalo's Jonnivius Smith in the opening minutes.
- The Spartans answered back and pushed the lead back to eight points, 46-38, on a 3-pointer from Akins and a dunk from junior forward Mady Sissoko at the 16:52 mark.
- MSU pushed the lead up to 15 points, 59-44, on free throws from sophomore guard Pierre Brooks with 12:44 to play, but Buffalo continued to stay in and pulled to within 10 points three times, the last on a trey from Isaiah Adams with 9:53 left.
- Michigan State responded with a 15-4 run over a span of 5-plus minutes and took an 81-60 lead on a jumper from freshman forward Jaxon Kohler with 4:20 to play.
- The Spartans extended the run to 20-4 following a layup from Hauser and a three-point play from Kohler, giving MSU its largest lead, 86-60, with 2:43 left in the game.
- The first half was sluggish with both teams playing their first game in nine days.
- Leading 12-10, the Spartans used a 9-2 run to take a 21-12 lead following a 3-pointer from Hall and a layup from Hauser at the 7:11 mark.
- MSU was ahead by seven points, 30-23, before using a 9-2 burst to take a 39-25 lead on a fast break 3-pointer from Brooks with 53 seconds left.
- A 3-pointer from Buffalo's Curtis Jones cut the lead to 41-30, headed into intermission.
- Michigan State shot 50.8 percent from the floor (30-of-58), including 55.2 percent in the second half (16-of-29).
- Aided by the return of Malik Hall to the rotation, the MSU bench scored 38 points, with Hall leading the way with 11 points.
- The Spartans handed out 21 assists on 30 field goals (70.0 percent).
- MSU out-rebounded Buffalo, 39-34, including 19-15 in the second half.
- The Spartans scored 18 points off 14 Bulls turnovers.
- MSU connected on 70.0 percent of its free throws (21-of-30), including 72.2 percent (13-of-18) in the second half.
- Michigan State leads the all-time series with Buffalo, 5-0 … This was the first meeting between the teams since 1938.
- Head Coach Tom Izzo now has an all-time record of 675-271.
- The Spartans have an all-time record of 120-24 against teams from the Mid-American Conference.
- MSU out-rebounded its opponent for the eighth time this season (8-0 in those games).
- Michigan State handed out 21 assists, the fourth time this season with at least 20, and the ninth time with at least 15 this season.
- MSU shot 50.8 percent from the floor, the third time this season hitting at least 50 percent (3-0).
- The Spartans took a season-high 30 free throws.
- MSU put four players in double figures … the Spartans are 8-2 when at least three players score in double figures.
- Joey Hauser's 14 points led the team in scoring, his fifth time leading the team this season.
- He collected 12 rebounds and had his fourth double-double of the season and the 10th of his career.
- A.J. Hoggard had 11 points and 10 assists, his second double-double this year and the fourth of his career.
- He has scored in double figures nine times this season (20 career) and handed out at least 10 assists twice this year (four career).
- His 10 assists tied his career-high, set three times previously, most recently against Villanova (11/18/22).
- Jaden Akins scored 13 points, his second-straight game in double figures … He has scored in double figures twice this year and four times in his career.
- Malik Hall scored 11 points in his first game since Nov. 18 … This was his fourth game in double figures and the 27th of his career.
Michigan State starts the New Year on Tuesday, Jan. 3, returning back to Big Ten Conference play, hosting Nebraska at the Breslin Center (7 p.m., BTN).
Team Stats
UB
MSU
FG%
.424
.508
3FG%
.313
.421
FT%
.700
.700
RB
34
39
TO
14
10
STL
4
6
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
14
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
3
Pts
13
FGM
5
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
11
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
3
Players Mentioned
G
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