Tuesday, November 19
East Lansing, Mich.
8 PM
Michigan State University
4-1,0-0Big Ten
83
vs
75
Samford
4-2,0-0SoCon
1
2
F
Samford
28
47
75
Michigan St.
38
45
83
Photo by: Matthew Mitchell
Career-High 25 Points from Akins Helps Michigan State Hold Off Samford, 83-75
11/19/2024 10:46:00 PM | Men's Basketball
East Lansing, Mich. – Senior guard Jaden Akins scored a career-high 25 points as Michigan State's men's basketball came back from a 13-point deficit in the first half, took a 10-point lead at the break and held on for an 83-75 win over Samford at the Breslin Center on Tuesday night.
Akins hit 10-f0-15 shots from the floor, including a trio of 3-pointers, to lead four players in double figures.
Freshman guard Jase Richardson scored 12 points, had three assists, three rebounds and four steals, senior forward Frankie Fiedler had 12 points and two assists and senior center Szymon Zapala added 10 points and a team-high six rebounds. Junior guard Tre Holloman added five points, a game-high nine assists and a career-best six steals.
Records
Michigan State improves to 4-1 overall, while Samford falls to 4-2.
Recap
Michigan State hits the road on Friday morning, traveling to Hawaii to play in the Maui Invitational. The Spartans begin play on Monday, Nov. 25 against Colorado (noon, ET).
Akins hit 10-f0-15 shots from the floor, including a trio of 3-pointers, to lead four players in double figures.
Freshman guard Jase Richardson scored 12 points, had three assists, three rebounds and four steals, senior forward Frankie Fiedler had 12 points and two assists and senior center Szymon Zapala added 10 points and a team-high six rebounds. Junior guard Tre Holloman added five points, a game-high nine assists and a career-best six steals.
Records
Michigan State improves to 4-1 overall, while Samford falls to 4-2.
Recap
- Michigan State trailed in the first half by 13 points, 21-8, before storming back to tie the game at 23-all and then out-scored the Bulldogs 15-5 over the final four-plus minutes to take a 38-28 lead at the break.
- A 3-pointer from Fidler early in the second half extended MSU's lead to 47-35 and the Spartans still led, 51-39, after a dunk from Richardson at the 15:01 mark.
- Samford did not go away and pulled to within 53-47 on a 3-pointer from Lukas Walls (13-23) and narrowed the gap to five points, 64-59, on free throws from Trey Fort with 6:27 left.
- The Spartans then used a 9-0 run and took a 72-59 lead on a fast break layup from Akins with 4:52 left to play and had their biggest lead, 74-61, on free throws from Holloman with 4:37 to play.
- MSU still led by 11 points, 78-67, following free throws from Fidler with 1:22 left, but a 3-pointer from Josh Holloway (1:04) and free throws with 31 seconds left narrowed the gap to 79-73.
- Junior forward Jaxon Kohler and redshirt freshman guard Jeremy Fears Jr. each hit two free throws in the final 22 seconds to seal the win.
- Samford jumped on top early, hitting a pair of 3-pointers and forcing five MSU turnovers in the opening eight-plus minutes to take a 16-8 lead.
- The Spartans had pulled to within 12-8 on a dunk from Carr (14:32), but Samford went on a 9-0 run to extend its lead to 21-8 on a 3-pointer from Julian Brown at the 10:04 mark as MSU was scoreless for more than four minutes.
- That's when MSU caught fire, out-scoring the Bulldogs 30-7 over the final 8:42 to take a 38-28 lead into the break.
- A free throw from Richardson (8:42) started the run and sophomore forward Xavier Booker followed with a trey and a driving layup to make it 21-14 (6:20).
- After a basket from Samford, the Spartans scored nine-straight points, seven of them by Akins, including a dunk at 4:32 to tie the game at 23-all.
- Samford quickly took a 25-23 lead, but an 8-0 burst, capped by consecutive 3-poitners from Holloman and Akins gave MSU a 31-25 with 2:57 left.
- Richardson hit a layup with 55 seconds left to give MSU a 10-point lead at the break.
- After missing its first 10 attempts from 3-point land, the Spartans finished the game hitting 7-of-14 from deep, finishing the night at 7-of-24 (29.2%).
- Michigan State hit 67.7 percent of its 2-point shots (21-of-31).
- The Spartans forced 19 turnovers and scored 27 points off those, including 18 points off 10 turnovers in the second half.
- MSU hit 87.0 percent of its free throws (20-of-23), including 15-of-18 (83.3%) in the second half.
- The Spartans had 13 steals.
- This was the first-ever win for Michigan State over Samford.
- The Spartans have an all-time record of 16-1 against teams from the Southern Conference.
- Michigan State Head Coach Tom Izzo now has a career record of 711-296.
- The Spartans are 4-0 at home and 3-0 when leading at the half.
- MSU is 2-0 when shooting 50 percent from the field or higher and 4-0 when shooting better than its opponent.
- The Spartans are 4-0 when committing fewer turnovers than their opponent (14-19).
- This was the fourth game this season MSU scored at least 80 points (4-0).
- Senior guard Jaden Akins scored a career-high 25 points on 10-of-15 field goals.
- His 10 field goals made were a career-best.
- Akins led MSU in scoring for the third time this year and the seventh time in his career.
- He has four games in double figures this year and 38 for his career.
- Senior forward Frankie Fidler scored 12 points, his fourth-straight game in double figures.
- He has scored in double figures 79 times in his career.
- Fidler hit 7-of-8 free throws and his miss broke a streak of 28-straight makes dating back to the Niagara game.
- Freshman guard Jase Richardson scored 12 points, with three rebounds, three assists and four steals.
- It was his third game with at least 10 points this season and tied his career-best (Niagara).
- His set personal bests in minutes played (25) and steals.
- Senior center Szymon Zapala scored 10 points and had a team-best six rebounds.
- This was his first game in double figure scoring at MSU and the 18th of his career, including Longwood and Utah State.
- Junior guard Tre Holloman had a game-high nine assists and set a career-high with six steals.
- His six steals are tied for seventh all-time in a single game in MSU history … He is one of 14 players in program history with six steals in a game.
Michigan State hits the road on Friday morning, traveling to Hawaii to play in the Maui Invitational. The Spartans begin play on Monday, Nov. 25 against Colorado (noon, ET).
Team Stats
SU
MSU
FG%
.491
.509
3FG%
.346
.292
FT%
.714
.870
RB
30
30
TO
19
14
STL
7
13
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
25
FGM
10
3FGM
3
FTM
2
Pts
12
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
7
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
3
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
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