[jwplayer ToMWO6Jz]
Michigan State basketball used an offensive explosion in the second half to cruise past Oakland, 109-91, on Sunday afternoon. The game was tight up until halftime, but the Spartans were able to outscore the Golden Grizzlies 65-51 in the second half to pick up the easy win.
The Spartans were led offensively by junior forwards Gabe Brown (20 points) and Aaron Henry (15 points). Five other Spartans also reached double digits in points, including junior forward Joey Hauser, who had a double-double.
Oakland used the deep ball to keep up with MSU for most of the game, hitting 18-of-34 three-point shots. Juniors Rashad Williams and Jalen Moore led Oakland offensively with 36 and 26 points on Sunday.
For a third straight game, MSU got off to a slow, sloppy start with the Spartans committing 10 of their 18 turnovers in the opening frame. Combine that with an incredible shooting performance from Williams of Oakland — who scored 23 points in the first half — and it was a close 44-40 game at halftime.
The second half got off to a much better start for MSU, with the Spartans using a 13-0 run early in the half to build a double-digit lead. Oakland never completely faded, but that early run spearheaded the Spartans’ convincing win in the end.
MSU finished the game shooting 51.3% from the field in what was their best offensive outing of the season. The Spartans shot a season-high 37 three-point attempts, hitting 15 (40.5%).
Sunday’s win against Oakland for now completed a perfect non-conference schedule for the Spartans at 6-0. MSU is looking to add another non-conference game this week to replace this past Wednesday’s canceled match-up at Virginia.
As of right now, MSU is scheduled to next play on Dec. 20 at Northwestern in their first Big Ten game of the season.
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