The Spartans were led by 15 points and 20 rebounds from junior center Goran Suton and 20 points and six rebounds from sophomore forward Raymar Morgan.

With senior guard Drew Neitzel still battling an illness, the Spartans had to rely on Morgan more than usual. Neitzel finished with 12 points on 3-of-9 shooting. Izzo said, if healthy, Neitzel could’ve hit 7-of-9.

“Neitzel came back from Kansas and didn’t practice and the poor kid is giving his all and doesn’t have a lot in the tank right now,” Izzo said.

It was a struggle from the start for the Spartans, as they had problems controlling the ball, but the Golden Grizzles couldn’t completely capitalize. They could only muster a 25-18 lead.

After that, the Spartans climbed right back into the game, going on a 15-2 run to take a 33-27 lead into halftime.

At that point, Suton took over the glass, securing 14 of his career high 20 rebounds in the half. Even though Suton controlled things inside, MSU still struggled to pull away from Oakland, as the Spartans never led by more than nine.

“Give Oakland credit that every time we seemed to get a lead, they kept fighting back,” Izzo said.

While MSU had it working on both the inside and outside, Oakland could not get anything going inside, shooting 27 3-pointers in the game, hitting just six.

That proved to be a major factor, as MSU was able to get to the line with frequency, shooting 32 free throws and was able to seal the game down the stretch at the line.

Brandon Cassise led Oakland with 20 points while Morgan led MSU with 20 on 8-of-10 shooting.