Thursday, November 7
East Lansing, Mich.
8 PM
Michigan State University
2-0,0-0Big Ten
96
vs
60
Niagara
1-1,0-0MAAC
1
2
F
Niagara
39
21
60
Michigan St.
46
50
96
Photo by: Matthew Mitchell
Kohler’s Double-Double Leads Michigan State Past Niagara, 96-60
11/7/2024 10:53:00 PM | Men's Basketball
East Lansing, Mich. – Junior forward Jaxon Kohler scored a career-high 20 points and had his second career double-double as Michigan State's men's basketball team used a big second half to pull away from Niagara for a 96-60 win at the Breslin Center on Thursday night at the Breslin Center.
Kohler set career best marks in points (20) and rebounds (13) for his second career double-double. He led five players in double figures, as freshman guard Jase Richardson had 12 points, senior forward Frankie Fidler added 11 points, junior guard Tre Holloman had 11 points and senior guard Jaden Akins finished with 10 points and six rebounds. Redshirt freshman guard Jeremy Fears Jr. chipped in seven points and a game-high eight assists.
Records
The Spartans improve to 2-0 overall, while Niagara falls to 1-1.
Recap
Key Stats
Michigan State travels to Atlanta on Monday to play in the Champions Classic against No. 1 Kansas on Tuesday, Nov. 12 (6:30 p.m., ESPN).
Kohler set career best marks in points (20) and rebounds (13) for his second career double-double. He led five players in double figures, as freshman guard Jase Richardson had 12 points, senior forward Frankie Fidler added 11 points, junior guard Tre Holloman had 11 points and senior guard Jaden Akins finished with 10 points and six rebounds. Redshirt freshman guard Jeremy Fears Jr. chipped in seven points and a game-high eight assists.
Records
The Spartans improve to 2-0 overall, while Niagara falls to 1-1.
Recap
- Michigan State led by as many as 13 points in the first half, went into the break ahead by seven points (46-39) and saw Niagara pull to within three points, 47-44, on a dunk from Will Shortt less than a minute into the half.
- The Spartans responded with an 11-0 run over 3:03 and took a 58-44 lead after an and-one from Fidler (16:32) and a jumper from Kohler (15:43).
- Niagara pulled to within 11 points, 58-47, on a 3-pointer from Jaeden Marshall, but that was as close as the Purple Eagles would get as Akins capped a 9-2 burst with a fast break layup pushing the margin to 17 points, 66-49, near the mid-point of the second half.
- A layup from Richardson pushed the lead to 21 points, 72-51, with 9:05 to play and a turnaround jumper from sophomore forward Xavier Booker made it 88-58 with 3:25 left.
- A dunk from sophomore forward Coen Carr with 41 seconds left gave MSU its biggest lead at 96-58.
- Michigan State went into the break leading by seven points, 46-39, after taking leads of 12 and 13 points but allowed Niagara back into the game with seven 3-point field goals in the first half.
- After scoring the opening basket of the game on a layup from Fidler, Niagara hit three-straight 3-pointers, the last two from Jahari Williamson as the Purple Eagles took a 9-2 lead.
- Trailing 11-4, the Spartans used a 9-1 run over 3:39 and took a 13-12 lead on a driving layup from freshman guard Jase Richardson with 12:23 left in the half.
- That was part of a larger 20-4 run as MSU took a 24-15 lead on a 3-pointer from sophomore forward Xavier Booker at the 10:14 mark and extended the lead to 12 points, 28-16, on a layup from Fears (9:39).
- Michigan State took its biggest lead of the half, 34-21, on a 3-pointer from junior guard Tre Holloman with 6:55 left.
- Niagara responded with a 10-2 run and pulled to within five points, 36-31, on a Williamson trey with 3:57 left and layups from Kohler and Akins twice pushed the lead back to 12 points but MSU
Key Stats
- Michigan State shot 52.2 percent from the floor (35-of-67), including 54.5 percent (18-of-33) in the first half.
- The Spartans hit 59.2 percent of their 2-point shots (29-of-49).
- MSU collected 16 offensive rebounds and had 21 second-chance points.
- The Spartans out-scored the Purple Eagles, 52-20, in the paint.
- MSU forced 16 turnovers and scored 27 points off those.
- Michigan State scored 28 points on the fast break.
- Led by Kohler's 20 points, the Spartans received 56 points from its bench, with three players scoring in double figures.
- Michigan State won its first game ever against Niagara.
- The Spartans have an all-time record of 8-1 against teams from the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.
- Head Coach Tom Izzo won his 709th career game and has a career record of 709-925.
- The Spartans are 156-45 all-time in games played in November, including a 102-4 mark at home.
- Izzo has a 79-1 record all-time at home in November, 120-41 for the month overall.
- Junior forward Jaxon Kohler set career-best numbers in points scored (20) and rebounds (13) for his second career double-double.
- This was his third career game scoring in double figures and his second career game with at least 10 rebounds.
- Jeremy Fears Jr. handed out eight assists for the second-straight game.
- In 14 career games, Fears has handed out at least five assists five times.
- Senior forward Frankie Fidler scored 11 points, his first game in double figures as a Spartan but the 76th of his career, including 75 at Omaha.
- Senior guard Jaden Akins finished with 10 points, his second game in double figures this year and the 36th of his career.
- Junior guard Tre Holloman had 11 points, his first game in double figures this year and the sixth of his career.
- Freshman guard Jase Richardson scored in double figures for the second-straight game to start his career.
- Head Coach Tom Izzo announced post-game that senior guard Jaden Akins and junior guard Tre Holloman were named team captains.
Michigan State travels to Atlanta on Monday to play in the Champions Classic against No. 1 Kansas on Tuesday, Nov. 12 (6:30 p.m., ESPN).
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Team Stats
Niag
MSU
FG%
.377
.522
3FG%
.346
.333
FT%
.611
.800
RB
28
45
TO
16
9
STL
5
6
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
20
FGM
8
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
3
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
1
Pts
11
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballF
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