Jaden Akins scored 18 points and Jaxon Kohler finished a rebound shy of tying a career high with 12 and Michigan State throttled Nebraska 89-52 on Saturday.
Michigan State (8-2, 2-0 Big Ten) reserves Jase Richardson scored 16 points and Xavier Booker scored 11 and the two combined to finish 9-for-13 shooting. Each played 15 minutes.
The Spartans shot 51.8% (29-of-56) and 95.7% (22-of-23) from the foul line.
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Reserve Andrew Morgan scored 14 points and Brice Williams 11 in Nebraska’s (6-2, 0-1 Big Ten) conference opener.
The Spartans built a 7-0 lead before Nebraska scored seven straight to tie it. The Cornhuskers’ Williams made a pair of free throws to again tie it, this time at 11, but the Spartans outscored Nebraska 13-2 in a span of a little more than 5:30 minutes and were up 24-13 with 7:36 left before halftime.
Nebraska rallied to get within 26-21 on Andrew Morgan’s jump shot with 6:01 left. The Spartans countered with a Coen Carr dunk plus a 3-pointer and two free throws from Richardson and Michigan State led by double digits for the remainder. The lead reached 20 (53-33) on an Akins jumper with 14:26 left and 30 (65-34) with a Tre Holloman 3-pointer with 10:48 remaining.
It was the Spartans’ first home game at the Breslin Center in 18 days. Michigan State now leads the all-time series 24-10.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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