Jaden Akins has career night as Michigan State beats Samford

Jaden Akins scored a career-high 25 points to lead Michigan State to an 83-75 win over Samford on Tuesday in East Lansing, Mich.Akins shot 10-of-15 from the field overall before fouling out with 45 seconds remaining.Jase Richardson and Frankie Fidler each scored 12 points and Szymon Zapala added 10 points and six rebounds for Michigan State (4-1).The Spartans shot 50.9 percent from the field overall (28 of 55) and made 20 of 23 attempts from the free-throw line.Jaden Brownell scored 19 points, Josh Holloway scored 14 and Lukas Walls had 12 in defeat for Samford (4-2), which committed 19 turnovers.The Bulldogs shot 49.1 percent from the field (28 of 57) and 34.6 percent from 3-point range (9 of 26).After Samford pulled within five with 6:27 left in the game, Akins hit three consecutive shots — two 3-pointers and a fastbreak layup — to give Michigan State a 72-59 lead with 4:52 remaining.Samford cut the Michigan State lead to 79-73 with 31 seconds remaining, but a pair of free throws by Jaxon Kohler with 22 seconds left effectively iced it.

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