Sunday, January 12
Evanston, Ill.
12 PM
Michigan State University
14-2,5-0Big Ten
78
at
68
Northwestern
10-6,1-4Big Ten
1
2
F
Michigan St.
47
31
78
Northwestern
28
40
68
Photo by: Matthew Mitchell Photography
Akins Leads Three in Double Figures as No. 16 Michigan State Beats Northwestern, 78-68
1/12/2025 3:14:00 PM | Men's Basketball
EVANSTON, Ill. – Michigan State's men's basketball team led by 23 points in the first half and 19 at halftime as the 16th-ranked Spartans held on to beat Northwestern, 78-68, on Sunday afternoon at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Senior guard Jaden Akins scored 14 points to lead three players in double figures, including six free throws in the final minute, passing the 1,000-point mark for his career.
Redshirt freshman Jeremy Fears Jr. scored 12 points and handed out eight assists and freshman guard Jase Richardson added 13 points as 10 different players scored for the Spartans.
Records
Michigan State, winners of nine-straight games, improves to 14-2 overall and 5-0 in the Big Ten Conference, while Northwestern falls to 10-6 overall and 1-4 in league play.
Recap
Michigan State returns home to the Breslin Center on Wednesday, Jan. 15, hosting Penn State. The game tips off at 7:30 p.m. on BTN, with Kevin Kugler, Robbie Hummel and Andy Katz calling all of the action.
Senior guard Jaden Akins scored 14 points to lead three players in double figures, including six free throws in the final minute, passing the 1,000-point mark for his career.
Redshirt freshman Jeremy Fears Jr. scored 12 points and handed out eight assists and freshman guard Jase Richardson added 13 points as 10 different players scored for the Spartans.
Records
Michigan State, winners of nine-straight games, improves to 14-2 overall and 5-0 in the Big Ten Conference, while Northwestern falls to 10-6 overall and 1-4 in league play.
Recap
- Michigan State led by 19 points with six minutes left in the game, 67-48, before Northwestern pulled to within nine points, 71-62, following a three-point play from Nick Martinelli with 46 seconds left.
- The Spartans hit 7-of-8 free throws in the final 34 seconds, including 6-of-6 from Akins to close out the win.
- Early in the second half, MSU extended their lead back to 20 points, 52-32, on a layup from senior center Szymon Zapala at 17:25.
- A step-back jumper from Fears with 12:57 to play gave MSU a 58-40 lead before Northwestern used a 6-1 run to pull within 59-46 on a layup from Matthew Nicholson with 10:08 left.
- Free throws from senior forward Frankie Fidler kept MSU's lead at 17 points (63-46) and a tip-in from junior forward Jaxon Kohler made it 65-48 before both teams went scoreless for two minutes.
- Junior guard Tre Holloman hit a pair of technical free throws to push the lead back to 67-48 before a 14-4 run by the Wildcats cut the lead to single digits with less than a minute left.
- Michigan State went into the break with a 47-28 lead, connecting on 62.1 percent of its field goals (18-of-29) and with 10 different players scoring at least 2 points.
- Northwestern had jumped out to a 13-8 lead following a jumper from Jalen Leach at the 14:54 mark, but MSU responded with an 9-3 burst and took a 17-16 lead on a conventional three-point play from freshman guard Jase Richardson at 13:12.
- Richardson's three-point play was part of a 14-0 run as MSU took a 28-16 lead at 8:13.
- Martinelli hit a jumper and free throw to make it 28-19 but MSU responded again, going on a 15-2 run over 4:28 and taking a 43-21 lead on an alley-oop from Fears to sophomore forward Xavier Booker, forcing the Wildcats to call a timeout.
- Junior center Carson Cooper hit a hook shot with 2:11 to play to give MSU its biggest lead, 45-22.
- Northwestern went nearly six minutes (5:47) without a field goal until a pair of 3-pointers in the final two minutes and a jumper from Fears closed out the scoring.
- Michigan State shot 50.0 percent from the floor (27-of-54), including 62.1 percent in the first half (18-of-29).
- MSU held Northwestern to 35.6 percent shooting from the field (21-of-59), including 32.3 percent in the first half (10-of-31).
- The Spartans had a 37-30 edge in rebounding and outscored the Wildcats, 36-26, in the paint.
- Michigan State scored 18 points off 11 Northwestern turnovers, while the Spartans committed eight of their 11 turnovers in the second half.
- MSU hit 74.1 percent of its free throws (20-of-27), including 7-of-8 in the last minute of the game.
- Michigan State leads the all-time series with Northwestern, 96-42, and has won the last two meetings between the teams.
- This was MSU's first win at Northwestern since a 73-67 decision on Jan. 2, 2022.
- Head Coach Tom Izzo's career record improved to 721-297.
- Izzo's career Big Ten record improved to 348-170 and he needs six more wins to pass former Indiana coach Bob Knight (353) for the all-time lead in conference wins by a head coach.
- The nine-game win streak for the Spartans is the longest since winning nine-straight in 2021-22.
- The 5-0 start in Big Ten Conference play matches the 5-0 start by the team in 2021-22.
- Michigan State is 4-0 on the road this season, including a 3-0 mark in the Big Ten.
- Michigan State is 13-0 when leading at the half this season.
- The Spartans connected on 50.0 percent of their field goals (27-of-54), the eighth time hitting at least half of their shots.
- MSU held NU below 50.0 percent shooting from the floor (35.6 percent), the 15th time this season an opponent was below 50.0 percent (13-2).
- The Spartans are 14-0 when out-shooting their opponent (50.0% to 35.6%).
- Michigan State had a 37-30 edge in rebounding and is 13-1 when controlling the battle of the boards.
- Michigan State hit 74.1 percent of its free throws (20-of-27), just the third time this year shooting below 80 percent from the line.
- The Spartans received 29 points from the bench, the 15th time in 16 games this season with at least 25 points from the bench.
- Michigan State handed out 18 assists on 27 made field goals (66.7% assist rate).
- MSU scored a season-low 4 points on the fast break.
- Jaden Akins scored a team-high 14 points, his 13th time in double figures this year and the 47th of his career.
- It was his seventh time leading the Spartans in scoring this year.
- Akins hit a pair of free throws with 34 seconds left to reach the 1,000-point mark for his career, becoming the 57th MSU player in program history to reach that mark.
- Akins now has 1,004 career points and needs 12 more to pass Joey Hauser for 56th place on the all-time list.
- He also set a career-high with 5 steals.
- Jeremy Fears Jr. scored 12 points and handed out a game-high 8 assists.
- He has scored in double figures six times in his career.
- This was 11th game leading the team in assists and the 13th with at least five.
- Fears has scored in double figures five times this year and five for his career.
- Tre Holloman finished with 11 points and six assists.
- This was his fourth game in double figures and the ninth of his career.
- This was his fourth game with at least five assists.
- Jase Richardson scored 13, his eighth game in double figures this year.
- Four players – Jaxon Kohler, Szymon Zapala, Carson Cooper and Frankie Fidler – each had 5 rebounds to lead the Spartans.
- Kohler finished the day with 8 points, 5 rebounds and a career-best 5 assists.
Michigan State returns home to the Breslin Center on Wednesday, Jan. 15, hosting Penn State. The game tips off at 7:30 p.m. on BTN, with Kevin Kugler, Robbie Hummel and Andy Katz calling all of the action.
Team Stats
MSU
NU
FG%
.500
.356
3FG%
.500
.200
FT%
.741
.778
RB
37
30
TO
11
12
STL
8
6
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
14
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
6
Pts
13
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
3
Pts
8
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
C
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
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/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
C
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