No. 18 Michigan State rolls to 81-49 win over Alcorn State

Nov 20, 2023, 02:47 am

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- — Tre Holloman scored 17 points and Jaden Akins added 13 to help No. 18 Michigan State roll to a 81-49 win over Alcorn State on Sunday.

Coen Carr had 11 points for the Spartans (3-2), who played without leading scorer Tyson Walker (23.0 ppg), who did not dress due to illness but sat on the MSU bench in street clothes.

“He’s had a cold for four or five days and he wasn’t doing good today,” Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. “I don’t know why he came to the game. He wanted to be there with the guys, and I think that’s a step in the right direction for him.”

He expects Walker will be available for Thursday’s game against Arizona.

“I’m confident we’ll get him back but at what level? I don’t know,” Izzo said.

Holloman started in place of Walker, scoring 12 of his 17 points in the first half.

Jeremiah Gambrell led Alcorn State with 12 points and Jeremiah Kendall added 11.

Izzo was pleased with his team’s defense, but concerned about the Spartans’ rebounding.

“They had 16 offensive rebounds,” he said of Alcorn State. “My staff said, ‘They missed a lot of shots. They have a lot of opportunities for offensive rebounds.’ I said, ‘Yeah, we had a lot of opportunities for defensive rebounds.’ So it just depends which way you want to look at it.”

The Braves (1-4), who narrowly lost to Alabama-Birmingham 80-77 on Friday, were never in this one, trailing by as many as 30 points in the first half. After Jeremiah Gambrell gave Alcorn State a 5-3 lead with 17:09 left in the first half, Michigan State went on a 13-0 run to take the lead for good. MSU led 44-16 at halftime.

The Braves were ice-cold from the floor in the first half, hitting only five of 34 shots and shooting just 26.2% for the game while losing their third game in a row.

“We got two big stops early on and didn’t convert,” Braves coach Landon Bussie said. “You’ve got to have a better start and you’ve got to convert when you’ve got the looks. We started too slow.”

Michigan State, on the other hand, shot 52% from the field.

PROUD PAPAS

The sons of Izzo, MSU great Steve Smith and Detroit Lions Hall of Famer Barry Sanders saw time in the final minutes. Steven Izzo was injured while committing a foul and had to leave the game. “You can’t even get a black eye anymore and you have to come out of the game,” his father quipped.

BIG PICTURE:

The Spartans could fall out of the Top 25 despite the victory, its second in three days at home. MSU is 99-4 in November home games under Izzo, who is in his 29th season.

UP NEXT:

Alcorn State: At Texas Christian, Tuesday, the fourth in a series of 14 consecutive road games. Alcorn State won’t play a home game until Jan. 22.

Michigan State: The Spartans face another test when they face No. 12 Arizona Thursday in the Acrisure Classic at Palm Springs, Calif.

------

Get poll alerts and updates on AP Top 25 basketball throughout the season. Sign up here

------

AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball