AST LANSING – For the second time in less than a week, Michigan State basketball looked in trouble on its home court.
Xavier Booker and Jaden Akins helped change the course, and the Spartans needed to summon up even more resolve and tenacity to hold off a spirited Samford squad that gave them all they could handle.
After falling behind by 13 points, Booker came off the bench to hit a pair of buckets to key a massive surge to stop the Bulldogs’ early electricity. Akins took over from there, scoring all of his career-high 25 points after that to help lift MSU to an 83-7 victory Tuesday night at Breslin Center.
Jase Richardson had 12 points on 4-for-6 shooting with three rebounds and three assists, but the talented freshman suffered a left ankle injury late in the game and did not return. He had to be helped to the MSU bench by trainers but was able to walk with a limp and thank fans after the game.
Akins made 10 of 15 shots while others struggled. Frankie Fidler added 12 points despite 2-for-6 shooting, while Tre Holloman scored five points on 1-for-9 shooting with five of MSU’s 14 turnovers but dished out nine assists as the Spartans finished with a 36-8 fast-break advantage.
Szymon Zapala had 10 points and six rebounds for MSU (4-1), which heads to the Maui Invitational over the weekend for a 5 p.m. opener Monday against Colorado (ESPN2) in the three-day event.
Jaden Brownell scored 19 points with nine rebounds for the Bulldogs (4-2), who provided the type of dogfight the Spartans need with two-time defending champion Connecticut and North Carolina, among others, potentially waiting in the Maui field.
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Digging out of early hole again
In the first 10 minutes, MSU looked much like it did in Saturday’s 86-72 closer-than-the-score escape against Bowling Green, a game Izzo’s team trailed by 12 points early. Only things appeared even bleaker for a comeback with how it unfolded.
Samford, which arrived ranked seventh in the nation in scoring at 97.6 points a game, took it to the Spartans in a variety of ways beyond simply outside shooting. The Bulldogs punched MSU in the mouth immediately by attacking inside for layup and pounding the boards for five offensive rebounds and six second-chance points in the first seven-plus minutes. A 3-pointer from Julian Brown with 10:02 to play in the first half capped a 9-0 run that put his team up 21-8.
The Spartans, meanwhile, continued to miss from outside and went 8:19 without a field goal in a span that also included a lane violation that cost another point even before Jase Richardson took his first of two free-throw attempts.
Izzo with 9:23 remaining in the half finally inserted Booker, who started the first three games before coming off the bench and playing sparingly Saturday. Four days later, the 6-foot-11 sophomore sparked the struggling offense with a 3-pointer off a Jeremy Fears kick-out pass, MSU’s first make in 10 tries beyond the arc. Booker then tipped in his own shot that was blocked with 6:22 left, and momentum flipped swiftly and decidedly.
Those five Booker points along with the other Richardson free throw jumpstarted a 30-7 run to erase the 13-point deficit. After a layup by Lukas Walls for Samford, the Spartans got a layup from Jaxon Kohler and another by Akins in transition off a Richardson steal to force Bulldogs coach Bucky McMillan to call timeout.
Akins would score seven straight points, including a three-point play through hard contact followed by a steal and tomahawk dunk that tied the game. Back-to-back 3s from Tre Holloman and Akins gave MSU its first lead, and another Akins three-point play helped send the Spartans into halftime leading 38-28.
MSU was plus-19 in Booker’s 6:29 of court time in the first half. The Spartans were plus-17 in 14:23 from Akins, who had 13 points at the break. Zapala had eight points and three rebounds, as MSU recovered for a 19-16 rebounding edge by halftime.
Continued fight
Yet Samford would not go away quietly and only with a paycheck. The Bulldogs earned plenty of enemies inside Breslin Center – and all but certainly a lot of respect from Izzo – for their pesky pressure defense and ferocious fight.
It started with a little back-and-forth scrap between Holloman and Samford’s Julian Brown before an early second half inbounds play that required refs to step in between. It continued with the Bulldogs’ bench barking and chirping at the Spartans, goading Akins into responding and picking up a technical foul after a Coen Carr breakaway dunk that otherwise was about to blow the Breslin roof off with 15:23 to play. Instead of a 12-point lead and a loud home crowd, the Bulldogs kept it a 10-point game with the free throws as Akins shook his head at taking the bait.
That ignited Samford, which countered everything MSU was throwing at it, including 10 points from Richardson in an eight-minute span. The Bulldogs pulled back within five points twice, including a pair of free throws from Trey Fort with 6:27 remaining.
But Akins drilled back-to-back 3-pointers to rebuild MSU’s lead to 70-59 and again prompt McMillan to spin away from action, tilt his head back in frustration and call another timeout.
Akins slithered through the Samford defense for another layup, but the Bulldogs pulled back within single digits before the final media timeout with a pair of Brownell buckets.
Richardson went down while trying to defend a late Samford play in the paint and laid under the basket for a few minutes. He walked around with the team after the game shaking fans’ hands after the Spartans survived the scare, wearing a wrap around the injury.
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State basketball barely survives vs Samford with 83-75 win
