No. 16 Michigan State’s protection shuts down Washington

Jaden Akins had 20 points and No. 16 Michigan State extended its winning streak to eight games with an 88-54 victory over Washington in East Lansing, Mich., on Thursday night.

Jeremy Fears Jr. notched his first career double-double with 12 points and a season-high 10 assists for the Spartans (13-2, 4-0 Big Ten), who trailed for only nine seconds. Jase Richardson supplied 12 points and Tre Holloman tossed in 11 while dishing out six assists.

Tyler Harris led Washington (10-6, 1-4) with 14 points and Zoom Diallo added eight points. The Huskies didn’t make a field goal during the first 10 minutes, missing their first 14 attempts while committing four turnovers.

Michigan State led 42-13 at halftime.

Fears and Akins scored the first two Spartans baskets on 3-point shots. A pair of Richardson baskets sandwiched an Akins layup. Holloman found Szymon Zapala for an uncontested layup before Coen Carr brought the capacity crowd to its feet with a power dunk after a Huskies turnover to make it 16-1.

KC Ibekwe ended Washington’s field-goal drought on a putback with 9:35 remaining in the half.

After Washington pulled within 12, the Spartans went on a 12-2 run to make it 32-10. Frankie Fidler hit a 3-pointer to start that run and Fears completed it with a three-point play.

Akins’ fastbreak layup with 1:15 left in the half after another Washington turnover extended the Spartans’ lead to 29 points.

The Huskies made just 5 of 29 field-goal attempts (17.2 percent) and went 3-for-8 from the free-throw line prior to the break. They also committed eight turnovers.

Washington couldn’t muster a run in the second half. Akins’ steal and dunk with 16:39 left increased Michigan State’s lead to 54-20. He followed that up with a 3-pointer.

The programs met for the first time since 2010, and Michigan State improved to 5-2 in the all-time series.

–Field Level Media