It’s early in the season, but slow starts riddled with offensive struggles have been common themes for the Spartans through four games.

Starting the game, MSU failed to find a groove in the first half of play, shooting 16-for-32 from the field while struggling on defense. Bowling Green found its home in the paint with 24 of its first half points coming inside. 

The Spartans were led by senior guard Jaden Akins, who finished with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Six others tacked on double-figures, highlighted by junior guard Tre Holloman’s 11 points and four blocks off of the bench.

"You got to give them a lot of credit," MSU head coach Tom Izzo said postgame. "I thought they did a phenomenal job, I thought we did a very poor job. I didn’t think we had the same energy, but what we do have is strength by numbers."

Coming out of halftime, the Spartans looked similar to how they entered. Shots weren't falling and their defense was being picked apart.

Bowling Green senior forward Marcus Johnson was at the helm of the Falcons' effort, handling most of the scoring duties with 23 points. Johnson was unguardable in the first half in all phases of offense but wasn’t enough for a last-minute effort by MSU.

The late MSU push was characterized by a physical transition offense, pushing the ball inside to attack the Falcon defense. 13 transition points and 19 free throws in the second half gave the Spartans an edge as they found a weak spot in Bowling Green’s ability to defend without fouling. 

Bowling Green foul trouble became the story of the game. Compared to last year, Izzo likes what he sees in that category.

"We are getting to the line a lot more," Izzo said. "I mean, we were one of the worst in captivity over the years, so that was a plus."

Though the transition and inside scoring was there for MSU, three-point shooting was almost non-existent. The Spartans had 20 attempts from deep, only hitting three at the hands of Holloman and sophomore forward Xavier Booker.

This lack of a three-point threat allowed the Falcons to stack the paint to their advantage and force MSU to find its means of scoring elsewhere.

"There’s no secrets. We must be doing a lot of things pretty good the way we’re shooting," Izzo said.

With five minutes to go, an 18-0 MSU run won the game for the Spartans.

Sophomore forward Coen Carr added two transition dunks to start the momentum shift in favor of the Spartans and fuel their victory, seemingly stunning the Falcons' offense.

Bowling Green's possessions to follow were riddled by turnovers and missed shots as the Falcons went 0-for-9 during MSU’s late run.

"I do want to see how this team is going to respond, what we’re going to do and the lineup change," Izzo said. "There’s a lot of positives but I didn’t like the way we started. We have to find things that help us."

Izzo hinted at a lineup change as junior forward Jaxon Kohler started Saturday in place of Booker, who started the first three games. 

The Spartans will stay at home to face Samford on Tuesday, Nov. 19 at Breslin Center before heading to the Maui Invitational.