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Michigan State pulls away late to close out 2024 with 80-62 victory over Western Michigan

Melanie Soverinsky, The Detroit News on

Published in Basketball

EAST LANSING, Mich. — The Michigan State men's basketball team closed out 2024 with an 80-62 victory over Western Michigan on Monday afternoon in the Breslin Center.

The No. 18 Spartans (11-2) jumped ahead to give themselves a 13-point cushion at the half, but the Broncos (3-9) made a move coming out of the locker room.

WMU kept MSU on its toes, pulling within nine points with 4:16 left in regulation, but the Spartans answered and locked in on offense down the stretch to close out the win.

The Spartan bench joined the scoring party early on to hang on to its edge, contributing 17 of MSU's total first-half points and 41 total, compared to the Broncos' 18. Ten players etched their names into the scoring column for MSU.

Izzo mentioned that it's not simply the depth that has aided in the team's success so far but that the guys get along and enjoy spending time with one another. The chemistry on and off the hardwood sets MSU's 2024-25 group apart from teams in previous years.

"I think we just have good guys," senior Frankie Fidler said. "Everyone's likable, friendly. We hang out outside of practice and do things as a team outside of practice. I think those little things come back and help when we're on the court."

Senior Jaden Akins put on a stellar performance, and led the charge with 18 points and a pair of rebounds.

Junior Carson Cooper was another impressive contributor to the Spartans' win, notching 11 points and six rebounds. Senior Szymon Zapala recorded a career-high nine rebounds as a Spartan.

With MSU's depth in the middle for the first time in a few years, Izzo expects his bigs to step up and take over in the center, especially once MSU enters conference play against some versatile big men.

"I think Carson made some improvements there but we still need to get a lot more out of our bigs," Izzo said. "If nothing else, defensively and rebounding the ball."

As he approaches his first Big Ten season, Zapala is prepared to dial in and learn from today's win, a game with plenty of room for improvement ahead of a tough, jam-packed conference calendar.

The win's a win at the end of the day, but the 2024-25 team plans to watch film, communicate and learn from its performance against a tough to climb past WMU team.

"It's better to learn from wins than losses," Zapala said. "There's a few areas that we have to improve on. Turnovers is one of them. There were way too many turnovers today.

 

MSU out-rebounded the Broncos, 37-30. The Spartans logged 36 points in the paint and 23 on the fast break.

When it came to turnovers, the Spartans struggled, recording a season-high 17.

"Two, three turnovers right off the bat and 17 turnovers should be un-American," Izzo said. "I should be arrested for that."

Compared to the start of the season, MSU has shown improvement from three-point range, but the Spartans still have a ways to go from deep. The Spartans were 6 for 20 from beyond the arc against the Broncos.

MSU remains consistent in terms of free throw shooting. The Spartans drained 20-22 from the line while WMU knocked down 7-17.

Detroit King graduate Chansey Willis Jr., a former Michigan Mr. Basketball, led the Broncos with 12 points, including a pair of 3-pointers.

Former MSU associate head coach Dwayne Stephens returned to the Breslin Center, this time sitting on the visiting team's bench. Izzo looked forward to coaching against a former Spartan for the second time this season, following a November meeting against Bowling Green and coach Lourawls "Tum Tum" Nairn Jr., a former MSU point guard.

"As far as DJ goes, played here for four years I recruited him out of High School," Izzo said. "He played for me as an assistant and then he worked for me for 17, 18 years. I think more than what he's given me, he's given the university. He was always a guy that did the right thing. He was one of the best recruiters."

MSU will face Ohio State on the road on Jan. 3 to open the 2025 portion of the schedule and return to Big Ten play. Tip-off is slated for 8 p.m.

"I'm excited," Fidler said. "First, just to be able to play high-level teams every night. If I could bring one thing to the guys, it's to steal some on the road but win all of them at home. We've got a big game in Columbus coming up to start our conference play off right."

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