Thursday, December 21
East Lansing, Mich.
6:30 p.m.
Michigan State University
7-5,0-2Big Ten
99
vs
55
Stony Brook
6-6,0-0CAA
1
2
F
Stony Brook
12
43
55
Michigan St.
48
51
99
Photo by: Matthew Mitchell
Akins Scores Career-High 22 Points, Michigan State Beats Stony Brook, 99-55
12/21/2023 9:09:00 PM | Men's Basketball
East Lansing, Mich. – Michigan State opened up a 36-point lead at half and junior guard Jaden Akins scored a career-high 22 points as the Spartans beat Stony Brook, 99-55, at the Breslin Center on Thursday night in its final game ahead of the Christmas holiday.
Graduate guard Tyson Walker scored 17 points, had two rebounds, two assists and two steals, senior guard A.J. Hoggard had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds, adding three rebounds and two steals and freshman forward Xavier Booker chipped in 11 points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots. Eleven different players scored at least one point for the Spartans, including freshman guard Jeremy Fears Jr., who had one point, five rebounds and 10 assists.
Records
Michigan State, winners of three-straight games, improves to 7-5 overall, while Stony Brook falls to 6-6.
Recap
Michigan State is off for nine days and will play its first game after Christmas on Saturday, Dec. 30 at the Breslin Center against Indiana State (FS1, 2 p.m.)
Graduate guard Tyson Walker scored 17 points, had two rebounds, two assists and two steals, senior guard A.J. Hoggard had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds, adding three rebounds and two steals and freshman forward Xavier Booker chipped in 11 points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots. Eleven different players scored at least one point for the Spartans, including freshman guard Jeremy Fears Jr., who had one point, five rebounds and 10 assists.
Records
Michigan State, winners of three-straight games, improves to 7-5 overall, while Stony Brook falls to 6-6.
Recap
- Michigan State led from start to finish, taking a 7-0 lead on an alleyoop by Akins from Hoggard just over two minutes into the game.
- After Stony Brook's Keenan Fitzmorris hit a jumper at the 17:07 mark, the Spartans reeled off 13-straight points and took a 20-2 lead on a jumper from Walker with 13:49 left.
- The Seawolves cut the lead to 20-7 on a hook shot from Chris Maidoh, but went scoreless for nearly seven minutes as the Spartans took a 36-9 lead on a 3-pointer from Walker at the 6:21 mark.
- That was part of a 25-2 run as a jumper from senior forward Mady Sissoko gave MSU a 45-9 lead with 1:38 left.
- A 3-pointer from Tyler Stephenson-Moore ended a 5-minute spell without a basket and a 3-pointer from Akins gave MSU a 48-12 lead at the break.
- Stony Brook got no closer than 31 points the rest of the way and the Spartans took their biggest lead of the game, 80-33 (47 points), on a layup from Hoggard with 8:32 left in the game.
- Sophomore guard Nick Sanders hit his first career field goal with 49 seconds left, hitting a 3-pointer on a feed from graduate guard Steven Izzo, making it 97-53 before a dunk from freshman forward Coen Carr closed out the scoring at 99-55.
- Michigan State shot 59.4 percent from the floor (38-of-64), including 63.3 percent in the second half (19-of-30).
- MSU handed out a season-high 33 assists on 38 made field goals (86.8%).
- MSU scored 20 points off Stony Brook turnovers and out-scored the Seawolves 27-12 on the fast break.
- Michigan State is now 2-0 all-time against Stony Brook.
- MSU Head Coach Tom Izzo won his 694th career game.
- The Spartans led 48-12 at halftime … It was the largest halftime lead for the team since a 63-25 advantage (38 points) over Cleveland State on Dec. 29, 2017.
- MSU's 44-point win was its highest margin of victory since a 44-point win over Western Michigan (90-46) on Nov. 12, 2021.
- The Spartans handed out 33 assists, tied for the fifth-most in a single game in program history and the most since handing out 35 against Savannah State on Dec. 31, 2017.
- The Spartans hit a season-high 12 shots from 3-point land.
- Michigan State is now 6-2 at home.
- The Spartans are 7-1 when leading at the half.
- This was the fourth time this season the Spartans have hit at least 50 percent of their field goals and they are 4-0 in those games.
- In shooting 59.4 percent from the field, it was the second-best performance of the season.
- The Spartans hit a season-high 12 shots from 3-point land.
- Michigan State scored a season-high 99 points, the most in a regulation game since beating Oakland, 109-91, on Dec. 13, 2020.
- The Spartans are 7-2 when scoring at least 70 points.
- MSU held Stony Brook to 55 points, the fifth time holding an opponent below 60 points.
- The Spartans are 7-0 when allowing fewer than 70 points.
- Jaden Akins scored a career-high 22 points, topping his previous mark of 21 at Iowa last year.
- It was his eighth game in double figures this season and the 22nd of his career.
- This was the second time he has led the team in scoring this year.
- Tyson Walker scored 17 points, his ninth game in double figures this year and the 83rd of his career.
- Walker now has 1,018 career points at MSU and moved past Joey Hauser for 53rd on the all-time list and needs eight points to pass Gary Harris for 52nd.
- Walker has scored 1,698 points in 131 career games (12.9 ppg).
- A.J. Hoggard scored 12 points and tied for a team-best with 10 assists, registering his first double-double of the season and the sixth of his career.
- It was his ninth game in double figures and the 43rd of his career.
- He has led the team in assists eight times this season and 59 times in his career.
- Jeremy Fears Jr. tied for the team lead in assists with a career-best 10.
- Xavier Booker posted career bests in points (11), rebounds (7) and blocks (3).
Michigan State is off for nine days and will play its first game after Christmas on Saturday, Dec. 30 at the Breslin Center against Indiana State (FS1, 2 p.m.)
Team Stats
SBU
MSU
FG%
.291
.594
3FG%
.194
.387
FT%
.500
.647
RB
41
45
TO
11
11
STL
9
6
Game Leaders
Pts
22
FGM
9
3FGM
4
FTM
0
Pts
17
FGM
7
3FGM
2
FTM
1
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
3
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
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