Michigan State (8-4) pulled away down the stretch against Oakland (2-11) in a 67-54 victory Wednesday night in the Breslin Center to fend off the Golden Grizzlies upset bid.
Coming into this game, Michigan State had a great opportunity to come out and send a message quickly. Oakland is a team that struggles mightily on the defensive end of the floor. Michigan State started off the game with a couple quick buckets and opened up an early 13-6 lead. It looked like the Spartans were going to continue to get easy buckets, but a 12-0 run by the Golden Grizzlies spearheaded by Lansing native Blake Lampman saw the Spartans go into the under 12 media timeout down 18-13.
Throughout the rest of the first half, Michigan State couldn't get an offensive rhythm going. The bigs seemed to struggle in the post as the Golden Grizzlies' defenders guarded them one on one and even sagged off them in the post at some points almost daring the Spartans' bigs to score. This method of defense seemed to confuse Michigan State 's big men, which led to turnovers and post moves that were fading away from the basket instead of utilizing height advantage.
Pierre Brooks found himself on the bench during the first half as punished for being late to some things for the team. This led to Coach Izzo utilizing many different lineups and the offensive rhythm never fully gelled at any point in the first half.
The frustration of struggling with Oakland boiled over when Tom Izzo got a technical foul called on him at the 1:36 mark in the first half as his team held a 26-24 lead. This was one of those technicals that was needed with the Izzone empty due to holiday break and the team sleep walking through the first half to that point. Some form of spark was needed. After Coach Izzo’s technical, the Spartans were able to string together some stops and also get a 3-pointer from Joey Hauser to take a 29-24 lead into half.
After a forgettable first half marred by 11 turnovers, whatever Coach Izzo said to his team in the locker room seemed to work. Michigan State started off the second half on fire, connecting on its first six shots from the field and saw the lead balloon to 20 points at the 16:00 mark of the 2nd half. Michigan State did a great job of getting out in transition and getting easy shots. 3-pointers from Jaden Akins, Joey Hauser, and Tyson Walker spearheaded the early second half run. Credit to Oakland for never truly going away, keeping the game within 15 points throughout the 2nd half.
Back and forth runs occurred for both teams in the second half, most notably the Golden Grizzlies capped off one to pull within 11 with just two minutes left. Michigan State was able to squeak out enough buckets and stops to come out with a 67-54 victory. Joey Hauser led all scorers with 16 points and Jaden Akins scored a career-high 15 points. Mady Sissoko also set a career-high and led the Spartans in rebounding with 12.
Oakland's Keaton Hervey led the Grizzlies with 16 points.
This game felt like the Spartans were ready to be home for Christmas and, in fairness, the games right before Christmas versus an opponent that isn't clearly on the same level as you can always be tricky. Luckily, Michigan State was able to come away with the win to improve to 8-4 and extend its win streak to three. The Spartans will take on Buffalo on Friday December 30 in the team's last game in 2022 before heading into the new year.
