Thursday, January 9
East Lansing, Mich.
8 PM
Michigan State University
13-2,4-0Big Ten
88
vs
54
Washington
10-6,1-4Big Ten
1
2
F
Washington
13
41
54
Michigan St.
42
46
88
Photo by: Matthew Mitchell Photography
Akins Scores 20 Points as No. 16 Michigan State Opens Big Halftime Lead to Beat Washington, 88-54
1/9/2025 10:42:00 PM | Men's Basketball
EAST LANSING, Mich. – Senior guard Jaden Akins scored 20 points to lead four players in double figures as No. 16/14 Michigan State opened up a 29-point lead at halftime en route to an 88-54 win over Washington in a Big Ten Conference men's basketball game at the Breslin Center Thursday night.
Akins scored 11 of his 20 points in the first half as the Spartans opened up a 42-13 lead at the break.
Redshirt freshman guard Jeremy Fears Jr. scored 12 points and tied a career-high with 10 assists, freshman guard Jase Richardson had 12 points and five stelas and junior guard Tre Holloman finished with 11 points and six assists.
Records
Michigan State, winners of eight-straight games, improves to 13-2 overall and 4-0 in the Big Ten Conference, while Washington falls to 10-6 overall and 1-4 in the league.
Recap
Michigan State plays at Northwestern on Sunday, Jan. 12. The game tips off at noon and will air live on FS1, with Gus Johnson and Jim Jackson calling all of the action.
Akins scored 11 of his 20 points in the first half as the Spartans opened up a 42-13 lead at the break.
Redshirt freshman guard Jeremy Fears Jr. scored 12 points and tied a career-high with 10 assists, freshman guard Jase Richardson had 12 points and five stelas and junior guard Tre Holloman finished with 11 points and six assists.
Records
Michigan State, winners of eight-straight games, improves to 13-2 overall and 4-0 in the Big Ten Conference, while Washington falls to 10-6 overall and 1-4 in the league.
Recap
- Michigan State went into the break with a 42-13 lead at the break with a 42-13 lead, holding Washington to just five field goals in the opening 20 minutes.
- The Huskies got on the board first with a free throw from Great Osobor just 46 seconds into the game but the Spartans took the look for good on back-to-back 3-pointers from Fears and Akins.
- Washington went scoreless for more than nine minutes as MSU went on a 16-0 run, capped by a fast break dunk from sophomore forward Coen Carr at the 10:41 mark.
- Free throws from junior center Carson Cooper pushed MSU's lead past 20 points (29-8) with 5:13 left in the first half and a layup from Akins with 1:15 to play pushed the Spartan lead to 42-13 at the break.
- Cooper hit a pair of free throws just over a minute into the second half to extend the lead past 30 points, 46-15, and MSU took its biggest lead, 82-41 (41 points), on a layup from Richardson with 4:23 left in the game.
- The Huskies did not get within 30 points the rest of the way and a jumper from junior guard Nick Sanders with 1:01 left provided the final basket for the Spartans.
- Michigan State connected on 52.5 percent of its field goals (32-of-61), including 60.0 percent in the second half (18-of-30).
- MSU limited Washington to just five made field goals in the first half en route to a 29-point lead (42-13) at the break.
- The Spartans hit 94.4 percent of their free throws (17-of-18).
- MSU had a 28-2 advantage in fast break points.
- Michigan State leads the all-time series with Washington, 5-2, and has won the last five meetings between the teams.
- This was MSU's first win over Washington since they joined the Big Ten Conference this season.
- Head Coach Tom Izzo's career record improved to 720-297.
- Izzo's career Big Ten record improved to 347-170 and he needs seven more wins to pass former Indiana coach Bob Knight (353) for the all-time lead in conference wins by a head coach.
- Michigan State is 8-0 at home this season.
- Michigan State is 12-0 when leading at the half this season.
- The Spartans connected on 52.5 percent of their field goals (32-of-61), the seventh time hitting at least half of their shots.
- MSU held UW below 50.0 percent shooting from the floor (32.7 percent), the 14th time this season an opponent was below 50.0 percent (12-2).
- The Spartans are 13-0 when outshooting their opponent (52.5% to 32.7%).
- Michigan State had a 40-30 edge in rebounding and is 12-1 when controlling the battle of the boards.
- Michigan State hit 94.4 percent of its free throws (17-of-18), the 11th time this season connecting on at least 80 percent.
- The Spartans received 37 points from the bench, the 13th time in 15 games this season with at least 30 points from the bench.
- MSU scored 28 points on the fast break, the eighth time this season with at least 20 points.
- Jaden Akins scored a game-high 20 points, his 12th time in double figures this year and the 46th of his career.
- It was his sixth time leading the Spartans in scoring this year, his third 20 game with at least 20 points this year and the seventh of his career.
- Akins has now scored 990 points in his career at Michigan State.
- Jeremy Fears Jr. had his first career double-double with 12 points and tying his career-high with 10 assists.
- This was 10th game leading the team and the 12th with at least five.
- He tied his previous career mark of 10, set against Stony Brook on Dec. 21, 2023.
- 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 12 points and set a career-best with five steals.
- This was his seventh game scoring in double figures this year.
Michigan State plays at Northwestern on Sunday, Jan. 12. The game tips off at noon and will air live on FS1, with Gus Johnson and Jim Jackson calling all of the action.
Team Stats
UW
MSU
FG%
.327
.525
3FG%
.188
.333
FT%
.652
.944
RB
30
40
TO
15
12
STL
6
10
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
20
FGM
8
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
3
Pts
12
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
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