The Michigan State Spartans closed their non-conference schedule on Monday afternoon against intrastate foe Western Michigan University. Tom Izzo, in his 30th season as head coach of the Spartans, faced one of his former assistants for the 22nd time in his career as Broncos head coach Dwayne Stephens, an Izzo assistant from 2003 to 2022, and his squad made the 80-mile journey from Kalamazoo to East Lansing.
Despite a strong start to the second half, Michigan State pulled away from the Broncos late en route to a dominant 80-62 victory. Jaden Akins led all scorers with 18 points on 6/13 shooting, and Szymon Zapala added 8 points and 9 rebounds.
The Spartans started slow, falling behind 11-5 after five minutes of play, but clamped down on defense afterward. Western Michigan failed to score a point for nearly five full minutes of game time, and the Spartans never trailed after taking a 12-11 lead with 12:52 remaining in the second half.
The Spartans’ offensive woes continued for the first stretch of the second half. Poor shooting and turnovers let Western Michigan claw back to within four points, cutting the deficit to 49-45 eight minutes into the half. A Frankie Fidler layup and a pair of Coen Carr free throws pulled the lead back to eight for the Spartans, and they never looked back. A combination of interior dominance and solid free throw shooting helped the Spartans pull away over the game’s final ten minutes. The Michigan State defense stepped up, forcing three turnovers in rapid succession and helping the offense create some breathing room. The Spartans’ 90.9% rate at the free throw line also helped them pull away late.
Michigan State stands at 11-2 heading into the bulk of Big Ten play and keeps their record at home perfect for the season at 7-0. The loss drops Western Michigan to 3-9 on the season. The Broncos will open conference play on January 4 against Toledo (6-6).
FAMILIAR PROBLEMS
Before they managed to pull away in the game’s final ten minutes, several familiar problems reared their heads for Michigan State. The Spartans turned the ball over 17 times in today’s contest. Coming into today’s game, the Spartans averaged 11.8 turnovers per game, the fifth-worst mark in the Big Ten.
Michigan State also had another poor night shooting the ball from beyond the three-point line. They were 6/20 (30%) from beyond the arc tonight. Despite a recent uptick in outside shooting, the Spartan’s total percentage from beyond the arc is still only at 28.7%, the worst mark in the Big Ten and 344th nationally.
BENCH HELP
Key components for the Spartans in today’s win were two large contributions from the bench. Junior center Carson Cooper scored 13 points on a highly efficient 5/6 from the field, including an emphatic slam dunk halfway through the second half. He added in 6 rebounds and 2 blocks, as well. Freshman guard Jase Richardson, the son of former Michigan State player Jason Richardson, added 9 points and five assists on a perfect 4/4 from the field.
TOM IZZO COACHING TREE
Monday’s matchup with Western Michigan was another in a long line of games against a former Tom Izzo assistant coach. Broncos head coach Dwayne Stephens was a long-time assistant in East Lansing, working under Izzo from 2003 to 2022. Stephens’s tenure at Michigan State included four Big Ten Tournament titles and five trips to the Final Four. Before joining the Spartans as an assistant, Stephens played for Michigan State from 1989 to 1993 under head coach Jud Heathcote.
Izzo’s coaching tree is extensive, featuring notable names like former Marquette and Indiana head coach Tom Crean, former University of Utah and Chicago Bulls coach Jim Boylen, and current Eastern Michigan head coach Stan Heath. Loyola-Chicago head coach Drew Valentine also spent time under Izzo as a graduate assistant. In his career, Izzo holds a 17-5 record in head-to-head matchups against his former assistants.
SPARTANS’ BIG TEN SLATE
With a win against Western Michigan in the rearview mirror, the Michigan State Spartans will kick off their Big Ten conference schedule this week. The Spartans’ pursuit for their first regular season Big Ten title since 2020 with a road tilt with the Ohio State Buckeyes on January 3, followed by games against Washington, Northwestern, and Penn State over the next two weeks.
The Spartans’ toughest conference tests will come in a road trip to the west coast for a game against #22 UCLA on February 4, fresh off a hotly-contested victory against perennial powerhouse Gonzaga, and home games against #9 Oregon and #24 Purdue on February 8 and 18, respectively. Purdue has been a thorn in the side of coach Tom Izzo in recent years, winning the last five matchups between the two teams.
The Spartans, currently ranked 18th in the AP poll, are hoping to make their 26th consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The streak is the third-longest in NCAA history, trailing only Kansas’s 32 consecutive trips from 1990-2022 and North Carolina’s 27 consecutive trips from 1975-2001.
