Xavier Booker scores career-high 18, No. 20 Michigan State beats Oakland 77-58 for 4th straight win
DETROIT (AP) — Xavier Booker scored a career-high 18 points, Jaden Akins had 16 and Jaxon Kohler added 14 to lead No. 20 Michigan State in a 77-58 win over Oakland on Tuesday night.
The Spartans (9-2) have won four straight and seven of their last eight games.
The Golden Grizzlies (3-6) trailed by one point after a closely contested first half that included four ties and two lead changes.
Michigan State pulled away after halftime as Booker and Akins scored in double digits in the second half.
The Spartans held Oakland to 27.8% shooting.
DQ Cole scored 15 of his 17 points in the first half and Malcolm Christie finished with 15 points for the Golden Grizzlies.
Michigan State coach Tom Izzo and Oakland coach Greg Kampe wore matching, green Grinch sweaters.
Faces in the crowd included Mateen Cleaves and Morris Peterson, who led the Spartans to the 2000 national championship, and Jack Gohlke, who made 10 3-pointers to help the Oakland stun third-seeded Kentucky in the NCAA Tournament nine months ago.
Takeaways
Michigan State: Booker is starting to play up to his potential. The sophomore had his best game offensively, surpassing the 12 points he had in last month's win over then- No. 12 North Carolina.
Oakland: Kampe's teams shoot a lot of 3-pointers and if his current team gets hot beyond the arc, it could pull off some upsets.
Key moment
Akins made a reverse layup to put the Spartans ahead by 12 midway through the second half and Oakland called a timeout, but could not slow them down.
Key stat
Michigan State blocked a season-high 11 shots after averaging 4.2 blocks.
Up next
Michigan State hosts Florida Atlantic on Saturday. Oakland plays at Cleveland State on Thursday.
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