Tuesday, December 17
Detroit, Mich.
7 PM
Michigan State University
9-2,2-0Big Ten
77
vs
58
Oakland
3-6,1-1Horizon
1
2
F
Michigan St.
31
46
77
Oakland
30
28
58
Photo by: Matthew Mitchell
Booker’s Career-High 18 Points Helps Push No. 20 Michigan State Past Oakland, 77-58
12/17/2024 9:19:00 PM | Men's Basketball
DETROIT, Mich. – Sophomore forward Xavier Booker scored a career-high 18 points and No. 20/19 Michigan State used a big second to pull away from Oakland en route to a 77-58 win at Little Caesars Arena on Tuesday night.
Junior forward Jaxon Kohler had his fourth double-double of the season with 14 points and 10 rebounds, senior guard Jaden Akins added 16 points and two rebounds and senior center Szymon Zapala had five points, eight rebounds and a career-high six blocked shots.
Records
Michigan State improves to 9-2 overall while Oakland falls to 3-6.
Recap
Michigan State returns back to the Breslin Center to host Florida Atlantic on Saturday, Dec. 21. The game airs live on FS1 with Jeff Levering and LaPhonso Ellis on the call.
Junior forward Jaxon Kohler had his fourth double-double of the season with 14 points and 10 rebounds, senior guard Jaden Akins added 16 points and two rebounds and senior center Szymon Zapala had five points, eight rebounds and a career-high six blocked shots.
Records
Michigan State improves to 9-2 overall while Oakland falls to 3-6.
Recap
- Michigan State had led by just one point (31-30) at halftime and after opening up a 10-point lead (41-31) early in the second half, saw Oakland trim it to three points (43-40) with just over 13 minutes to play.
- A 7-0 burst by the Spartans pushed the lead back to 10 points 50-40, on a layup from Kohler with 11:15 left in the game.
- Booker hit a pair of free throws with 7:28 left to extend the margin to 58-45 but back-to-back 3-pointers from Oakland's Isaiah Jones cut the lead to 60-51 (6:21).
- The Spartans responded with a 9-0 run, triggered by a Booker trey and followed by a dunk from the sophomore, with redshirt freshman Jeremy Fears Jr. forcing a steal and driving for a layup and free throws from freshman guard Jase Richardson giving MSU a 69-51 lead with 4:29 left.
- MSU took its biggest lead, 73-53, on a layup from junior guard Tre Holloman with 2:08 left in the game.
- The Spartans had gone into the half with a 31-30 lead following a back-and-forth opening 20 minutes before opening up a 10-point lead, 41-31, on a 3-pointer from Richardson to cap a 10-1 run over the first 4:03 of the second.
- Oakland countered with a 9-2 run and pulled to within 43-40 on a free throw from Jaylen Jones (13:13).
- MSU committed eight turnovers in the first half and closed out a sluggish first half with Booker hitting a free throw with 12 seconds left to give the Spartans the slight edge.
- The teams went back and forth over the opening 20 minutes, with four ties and two lead changes.
- MSU took its biggest lead of the half, 16-10, on free throws from Kohler at the 9:58 mark.
- Michigan State scored 46 points in the second half, shooting 45.5 percent from the floor (15-of-33).
- The Spartans out-rebounded Oakland, 26-13, in the second half, collected 12 offensive rebounds and scored 24 of their 36 points in the paint in the final 20 minutes.
- Overall, the Spartans held a 51-31 advantage in rebounding.
- MSU finished the game shooting 82.6 percent from the free throw line (19-of-23), including 82.4 percent in the second half (14-of-17).
- The Spartans bench outscored Oakland, 33-27, with the reserves scoring 22 points in the second half.
- Michigan State blocked a season-high 11 shots, including six from senior center Szymon Zapala.
- Michigan State leads the all-time series with Oakland, 23-0, including a 5-0 record at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.
- The Spartans have an all-time record of 6-1 at LCA.
- Izzo's career record improved to 716-297.
- This was the seventh time the team has scored at least 80 points (7-0).
- Michigan State is 8-0 when leading at the half this season.
- MSU held Oakland below 50.0 percent shooting from the floor (30.2 percent), the ninth time this season an opponent was below 50.0 percent (8-2).
- The Spartans are 9-0 when out-shooting their opponent (43.3% to 30.2%).
- Michigan State is 8-1 when controlling the battle of the boards.
- The Spartans grabbed a season-high 51 rebounds and had a 51-31 advantage on the boards.
- This was the second-straight game with at least a plus-20 advantage on the boards.
- This was the first time MSU had at least 50 rebounds since 58 vs. Western Michigan (11/12/21).
- MSU blocked a season-high 11 shots, the most since 15 rejections against Eastern Michigan on Nov. 20, 2021.
- Michigan State hit 82.6 percent of its free throws (19-of-23), the seventh time this season connecting on at least 80 percent.
- The Spartans continue to get support from its bench, scoring 33 points, the 10th time in 11 games with at least 30 points.
- Xavier Booker scored a career-high 18 points, his fourth-straight game in double figures (six games career).
- This was the first time Booker led the team in scoring.
- Jaden Akins finished with 17 points, including 11 in the second half.
- Akins has scored in double figures eight times this year and 42 times in his career.
- Akins has now scored 928 points in his career at Michigan State.
- Jaxon Kohler had 14 points and 10 rebounds, his fourth double-double of the season and the fifth of his career.
- It was his fifth game this season with at least 10 boards and the sixth of his career.
- Kohler is the first MSU player to have at least 10 rebounds in three-straight games since Joey Hauser [12 vs. Buffalo (12/30/22), 10 vs. Nebraska (1/3/23) and 10 vs. Michigan (1/7/23)]
- Szymon Zapala finished with 5 points, 8 rebounds and 6 blocked shots.
- Zapala's 6 blocks are a career-high and tied for the fifth-most by an MSU player in a single game in program history.
- The 6 blocks were the most for a Spartan since Marcus Bingham Jr. blocked 7 shots against Loyola Chicago on Nov. 24, 2021.
- His eight rebounds tied a season-high.
Michigan State returns back to the Breslin Center to host Florida Atlantic on Saturday, Dec. 21. The game airs live on FS1 with Jeff Levering and LaPhonso Ellis on the call.
Team Stats
MSU
Oak
FG%
.433
.302
3FG%
.353
.355
FT%
.826
.529
RB
51
31
TO
12
8
STL
3
6
Game Leaders
Pts
18
FGM
5
3FGM
3
FTM
5
Pts
17
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
5
Pts
14
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
7
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
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C
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