Michigan State’s 83-75 non-conference win over Samford on Tuesday night wasn’t a typical buy game.

The Spartans did not play perfect. They got off to a terribly slow start. They turned the ball over 14 times. They allowed 47 points in the second half.

This was also not a typical high-major versus mid-major game because the opponent has been dominant in its conference for the past few years. Samford has gone 15-3 in the Southern Conference in back-to-back seasons. The Bulldogs made the NCAA Tournament last season and gave Kansas a run for its money.

Samford played Michigan State tough because it has good players, but also because it plays a unique style of basketball that could help prepare the Spartans for some matchups down the road.

“They’re a good team,” guard Jaden Akins, who scored a career-high 25 points on Tuesday, said about the Bulldogs. “They came out, punched us in the mouth early. They play a different type of style. I feel like we kind of had to adjust to get going, but as you can see, they kept the game close throughout the whole game.”

Samford’s unique full-court press took some getting used to. On top of the press, the Bulldogs play with a lot of tempo and shoot a lot of 3-pointers. It was such a different style that Akins mentioned he had never played a team like that before in his four years at Michigan State.