In both of its games, Michigan State’s depth has helped turn games with upset potential into blowouts.
Eleven different Spartans got into the scoring column during MSU’s dominant 96-60 win over Niagara on Thursday.
“We learned from the first half, taking a few bad shots and a few bad turnovers and I thought we stacked a few players together and built on it,” said Spartan head coach Tom Izzo.
Five of those players scored at least 10 points, including three players doing so off the bench. Junior forward Jaxon Kohler led the way with 20 points and 13 rebounds, both career-highs.
“He just went,” Izzo said. “As I tell our guys, effort-related things is a choice. It’s a choice. Do you want to do it or do you not want to do it? You want to go or do you not want to go? You want to run or do you not want to run?
“Effort-related things are a choice and I give him credit. I told (everyone) he was the best player I had all summer and he did some good things.”
An upperclassman has matched or broken his career-high in both of MSU’s games now. Senior Jaden Akins tied his career-best with 23 points against Monmouth on Monday. That immediately can be a telltale sign that Izzo has plenty of weapons at his disposal.
“You never know whose day it may be,” said guard Jeremy Fears Jr.
In addition, plenty of the top stat lines Thursday were done in limited playing time. Kohler only played 17 minutes. Himself included, four of MSU’s five double-digit scorers played less than half the game -- Jase Richardson, Frankie Fidler and Tre Holloman being the other three. Akins scored his 10 points in a team-high 27 minutes.
“Those three (bench guys in double figures) can start in a lot of ways,” Izzo said. “I think it’s been great (to get a heavy contribution from the bench). The minutes were a little bit all around the 20s and 19s, but we tried to play 12 guys, 13 guys. So there’s another 15 minutes that’ll get dispersed on normal games and if that happens I think we have a chance to really get some things going.”
Fears didn’t join the 10-point club, but did score seven points himself. His main contribution, as usual, was in his passing. The redshirt freshman dished out eight assists for a second consecutive game. No other player on either side had more than four.
Like Fears’ performance, Michigan State’s offensive attack was a similar story against Monmouth on Monday. Ten different MSU players scored in that game and Izzo leaned on his bench a lot. The Spartans’ bench has contributed 89 points already, 56 of which were on Thursday. In addition, MSU is already plus-72 this season in points in the paint differential.
Of course, the dominance in certain areas can only go so far. A lot of things that worked against Monmouth and Niagara are not going to work when Michigan State plays No. 1 Kansas on Tuesday. No one can expect MSU to go plus-30 in the paint against the Jayhawks.
“Let’s face it, we haven’t played the Celtics yet,” Izzo said. “I guess we do though right around the corner.”
