Jaden Akins led a balanced attack with 14 points as Michigan State rolled past winless Georgia Southern 86-55 on Tuesday in East Lansing, Mich.
Tyson Walker had 13 points and A.J. Hoggard tossed in 12 for Michigan State (4-3). Malik Hall supplied 11 points and nine rebounds, Mady Sissoko added 10 points and Tre Holloman chipped in seven points and made 10 assists.
Tyren Moore’s 15 points led Georgia Southern (0-7). Eren Banks and Deuce Dean added 12 apiece.
Michigan State led 38-11 at halftime. The Eagles were held to 5-for-27 shooting and made just one of 12 3-point shots. Walker and Hall led the Spartans with seven points apiece.
Walker drained a 3-pointer nine seconds into the contest and Michigan State never looked back.
Banks hit a 3-pointer for Georgia Southern to cut the Spartans’ lead to 13-9 with 12 minutes left in the half. The Spartans then finished it on a 25-2 run.
Hall got the outburst going with two baskets. Carson Cooper soon supplied a putback and an alley-oop dunk.
Walker’s jumper with three minutes left in the half established a 20-point advantage. Hoggard scored the last four points prior to the break.
The Eagles’ offense perked up in the early minutes of the second half. They outscored the Spartans 17-11 in the first five-plus minutes of the half to cut their deficit to 21. Dean scored seven points during that span and Cam Bryant capped it off with a 3-pointer to make it 49-28.
That’s where any semblance of a rally ended. The Eagles went nearly six minutes without a point while Michigan State increased its lead to 36 points. Hall made a jumper to get the outburst started. Sissoko and Akins scored four points apiece during that span.
Moore scored with nine minutes left to end Georgia Southern’s drought.
–Field Level Media