Before Michigan State men’s basketball’s season opener against Monmouth, head coach Tom Izzo said he wanted his team to produce more down low, penetrate open lanes, pass better and play solid defense.
The Spartans were able to do all of that in their 81-57 home win Monday night.
At their best, the Spartans drove into the lane and either picked up points in the paint or drew fouls, a formula for easy, old-school points. They sometimes kicked it out the wing, usually to senior forward Frankie Fidler or redshirt freshman Jeremy Fears Jr., which often resulted in a miss as the Spartans shot 3-for-18 from downtown.
“We took 18 threes, and I thought 15 were good,” Izzo said.
Defensively, Michigan State kept Monmouth’s second leading scorer from last year, junior guard Jack Collins, scoreless on 0-for-10 shooting from the field, 0-for-7 from three.
“We did a really good job on Collins, who’s one of their best players. We didn’t really guard Bashir,” Izzo said postgame.
MSU’s man-to-man defense was effective for the most part. Monmouth sophomore guard Abdi Bashir Jr. finished with 20 points on 7-for-22 shooting, making three shots beyond the arc to be the game’s second-highest scorer.
The Spartans went on an early 9-0 run, which had Breslin Center electric. The run gave insight into what this Michigan State team can be at its best and proved that what Izzo can get what he wants from his team on short notice.
“All in all, considering the way we shot it, I felt pretty good about (the outcome),” Izzo said.
The team’s best lineup featured senior guard Jaden Akins, Fears Jr., Fidler, sophomore forward Xavier Booker and senior center Szymon Zapala, with junior guard Tre Holloman, sophomore forward Coen Carr and junior forward Jaxon Kohler as the first subs. Those eight gave the Spartans some of their biggest runs of the night.
Heading into the game, one of the biggest questions was whether Akins could step up and become MSU's top scorer this season. Akins finished the game with 23 points, tying his career high on 8-for-12 shooting, though he struggled with three-pointers, only making one out of four.
“It’s really important to build on this, staying aggressive, not overthinking things, just playing basketball and winning games,” Akins said.
In the first half, Akins tallied eight points only from layups or dunks, mostly in transition.
Throughout the first half, MSU kept comfortable leads: 15-2, 27-15, 34-20 and 38-27 at halftime. MSU won the paint battle 28-4 in the first half.
Early in the second half, Monmouth chipped away at MSU’s lead. At one point, it was within six points. Kohler lost some of the magic he possessed in the first half, when he picked up missed shots and found the open basket quickly, but an Akins trip to the line about eight minutes into the second half changed the game’s momentum.
Akins made his first free throw and missed his second, but hit a three-pointer just seconds later. From there, it was clear that MSU had the game in hand. The three was Akins’ first and the team’s second — a testament to how well the Spartans played inside the arc.
MSU got to the line with more efficiency than in recent years, shooting 27 free throws.
MSU’s biggest struggle was leaving Bashir open. Though MSU held Collins to zero points — guarded by Fidler, Akins and Richardson most of the game — he often found Bashir wide open.
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The Spartans finished with a 49% field goal percentage, shot 17% from three and had fewer turnovers than Monmouth. They out-rebounded the Hawks 48-31, finished with 48 points in the paint and had 25 fast break points.
Michigan State will play Niagara on Thursday, Nov. 7 at 8:00 p.m. at Breslin Center.
