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Published Nov 19, 2024
Michigan State takes down Samford 83-75 behind Jaden Akins' career day
Lucca Mazzie  â€¢  Spartans Illustrated
Staff Writer

Michigan State improved to 4-1 on the young 2024-2025 season despite a scare from a Samford squad who went on several runs throughout the game. In the end, though, the Spartans sent the Bulldogs packing with a 83-75 victory.

Jaden Akins had a great night, finishing with 25 points, a career high, while Jase Richardson finished with 12 points. Szymon Zapala finished with 10 points and six boards, his season high in points, and made an impact defensively. Frankie Fidler had 12 points, and continued to look impressive when drawing fouls. Tre Holloman had a great passing night, finishing with nine assists and adding five points. Coen Carr made an impact beyond just his four points, with two emphatic dunks to help jump start the team.

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MSU rolled up with its classic uniforms, paying homage to the 2000 National Championship era. The starting five remained the same as last Saturday vs Bowling Green, with Jeremy Fears Jr., Akins, Fidler, Jaxon Kohler, and Zapala.

The Spartans started poorly once again with the Bulldogs constantly running the floor, helping the visitors to an early 12-4 lead.

With around eight minutes left in the half, Michigan State looked lost. The Bulldogs had increased their lead to 12, forcing MSU head coach Tom Izzo to call a timeout. The Spartan offense was dysfunctional, and the zero-for-nine 3-point shooting was holding the team back once again.

But it changed in a moment, with Xavier Booker hitting a corner trey, and following it up with a layup on the next play to kickstart a run by MSU. Akins then scored seven straight points to tie the game.

Despite trailing 21-8 early on, MSU went on a 30-7 run to take a 38-28 lead at the half.

Akins led the way with 13 points in the first half. Zapala and Booker scores eight and five points, respectively, in the first 20 minutes.

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The Spartans started the second half well, maintaining a double-digit lead through the first five minutes of the half. Around that time, Carr was met at the rim by a Bulldog defender, but Carr jammed it right over him the crowd's delight.

Both teams started to hit their shots late into the second half, and, as a result, MSU was unable to put the game away - but Samford was also unable to get it within a single possession.

Still, the Bulldogs made it difficult and refused to go quietly. With just under eight minutes to play, Samford had cut the score to within six, and started to make the Spartans a bit nervous. Two free throws from the Bulldogs brought the lead down to five with 6:27 remaining.

Just when it seemed like things were getting dicey, Akins got hot with his shooting again and hit back to back threes to force the Bulldogs to call another timeout. Not finished yet, Akins responded out of the timeout with a layup off an opponent turnover to push MSU's lead back out to 13, 72-59.

Samford rallied again late to cut it back to a two-possession game with just :31 remaining, but two late free throws from Fears put the game out of reach.

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With Samford having earned a bid to the 2024 NCAA Tournament - and expected to make it once again this season - Michigan State powered through, showing resilience in the face of a formidable opponent.

MSU will have a few days of rest before taking the trip out to Maui where it will take on Colorado to start with two more games to follow. Start time is set for 5 p.m. Eastern Time next Tuesday with the first game being broadcast on ESPN2.

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Michigan State Men's Basketball 2024-2025 Schedule
+State Farm Champions Classic, *Maui Jim Maui Invitational
DateOpponentLocationTime (ET)/TVResults

Sun. Oct. 13

at Northern MI (Exh)

Marquette, MI

1 pm/BTN

70-53, MSU

Tue. Oct. 29

Ferris State (Exh)

East Lansing, MI

7 pm/B1G+

85-67, MSU

Mon. Nov. 4

Monmouth

East Lansing, MI

7 pm/B1G+

81-57, MSU,
1-0

Thur. Nov. 7

Niagra

East Lansing, MI

8 pm/BTN

96-60, MSU, 2-0

Tue. Nov. 12

vs. Kansas+

Atlanta, GA

6:30 pm/ ESPN

69-77, KU, 2-1

Sat. Nov. 16

Bowling Green

East Lansing, MI

6 pm/BTN

86-72, MSU, 3-1

Tue. Nov. 19

Samford

East Lansing, MI

8 pm/ Peacock

83-75, MSU, 4-1

Tue. Nov. 25

vs. Colorado*

Lahaina, Maui, HI

5 pm/ ESPN2

Wed. Nov. 26

vs. Memphis or UConn*

Lahaina, Maui, HI

3:30 or 6 pm /ESPN/2/U

Thur. Nov. 27

vs. Auburn/Iowa St/Dayton/or UNC*

Lahaina, Maui, HI

TBA/ESPN/2/U

Wed. Dec. 4

at Minnesota

Minneapolis, MN

8:30/BTN

Thur. Dec. 7

Nebraska

East Lansing, MI

Noon/BTN

Tue. Dec. 17

vs. Oakland

Detroit, MI

TBD/TBD

Sat. Dec. 21

Florida Atlantic

East Lansing, MI

2 pm/FS1

Mon. Dec. 30

Western Michigan

East Lansing, MI

3 pm/BTN

Fri. Jan. 3

at Ohio State

Columbus, OH

8 pm/FOX

Thur. Jan. 9

Washington

East Lansing, MI

8 pm/BTN

Sun. Jan. 12

at Northwestern

Evanston, IL

Noon/4:30 pm
FOX

Wed. Jan. 15

Penn State

East Lansing, MI

7:30 pm/BTN

Sun. Jan. 19

Illinois

East Lansing, MI

Noon/CBS

Sat. Jan. 25

at Rutgers

Piscataway, NJ or New York, NY

1:30 pm/CBS

Tue. Jan. 28

Minnesota

East Lansing, MI

8 pm/ Peacock

Sat. Feb. 1

at USC

Los Angeles, CA

4:30 pm/ Peacock

Tue. Feb. 4

at UCLA

Los Angeles, CA

10 pm/ Peacock

Sat. Feb. 8

Oregon

East Lansing, MI

Noon/FOX

Tue. Feb. 11

Indiana

East Lansing, MI

9 pm/ Peacock

Sat. Feb. 15

at Illinois

Champaign, IL

8 pm/FOX

Tue. Feb. 18

Purdue

East Lansing, MI

7 pm/ Peacock

Fri. Feb. 21

at Michigan

Ann Arbor, MI

8 pm/FOX

Wed. Feb. 26

at Maryland

College Park, MD

6:30 pm/BTN

Sun. March 2

Wisconsin

East Lansing, MI

1:30 pm/CBS

Thu. March 6

at Iowa

Iowa City, IA

8 pm/FS1

Sun. March 9

Michigan

East Lansing, MI

Noon/CBS

March 12-16

Big Ten Tournament

Indianapolis, IN

Varies by day

MichiganState
FOOTBALL
Scores / Schedule
footballfootball
4 - 1
Overall Record
0 - 0
Conference Record
Finished
Michigan St.
83
Arrow
Michigan St.
Samford
75
Samford
Michigan St.
86
Arrow
Michigan St.
Bowling Green
72
Bowling Green
Michigan St.
69
Michigan St.
Kansas
77
Arrow
Kansas
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