The Michigan State men's basketball team opened its 2024-2025 campaign with an 81-57 victory over Monmouth on Monday night.
MSU moves to 1-0 on the new season, while the Hawks, out of the Coastal Athletic Association, fall to 0-1.
The Spartans were subject to many slow starts last season, but that was not the case in this game as from the opening tip, the Spartans were flying around on both ends of the floor.
It all started when the Spartans won the tipoff and point guard Jeremy Fears Jr. found guard Jaden Akins for the big alley-oop slam.
Fears followed that play up with a layup and a few assists as well, as the Spartans raced out to a quick 14-2 lead with 15:01 remaining in the first half.
The excitement and momentum continued, as the bench came in and continued the run with some breathtaking dunks from forward Coen Carr. He also had a missed dunk that would have been talked about for years and years to come if he would have made it.
MSU's lead grew to 17-2 with 12:53 left in the opening half.
Buckets from the front-court tandem of Jaxon Kohler and Longwood transfer Szymon Zapala saw the lead balloon to 21-8 with just over 10 minutes left in the first half.
Fears totaled seven assists in the first half, which spearheaded the offense. The Spartan wings, Frankie Fidler and Akins, led the Spartans in scoring at the break with seven and eight points, respectively, as they carried the Spartans to a 38-27 halftime advantage.
Although the Spartans struggled in the first half from 3-point distance (1-for-10), they were pretty solid in other areas. The team shot 16-for-37 (43.2% overall), while the Hawks went just 7-for-28 (25%). MSU grabbed 25 rebounds to Monmouth's 19 in the first 20 minutes of action.
Unlike the first half, the Spartans came out slow to start the second half and let Monmouth cut into the deficit.
The Hawks cut the lead to just six points with just over 16 minutes, but the Spartans were quickly able to restore a double-digit lead as Akins was able to get his offense going.
Akins went on a 6-0 run himself, with three free-throws and 3-pointer to put the Spartans back up by 12 points, 46-34, with 16:01 to play. Michigan State never looked back from there.
Throughout the second half, the Spartans were able to get out and run with the young and athletic guards and wings, which led to some electrifying moments.
Eventually, Michigan State stretched the lead out even further and won by 24 points.
Akins led the Spartans with 23 points, which tied his career-high. Akins scored 15 of his 23 points in the second half, hitting 8-of-12 shots from the floor and 6-of-7 from the free-throw line. He added a team-high nine rebounds, handed out five assists and had two blocks and two steals.
Freshman guard Jase Richardson scored 10 points in his Spartan debut, and had four assists off the bench, while Zapala finished with nine points, eight rebounds and three blocks.
MSU finished the game shooting 30-for-61 (49%) from the field overall, but shot just 3-for-18 (17%) from beyond the arc. Monmouth made just 17 of its 61 shot attempts (28%), including 8-for-27 (30%) from 3-point range.
The Spartans out-rebounded the Hawks 48-31. Michigan State also dominated in the paint, outscoring Monmouth 48-8. Monmouth had 15 turnovers, while MSU had 13.
Next up, Michigan State will host Niagara on Thursday at 8 p.m. Eastern Time. The game will broadcast on the Big Ten Network.
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