EAST LANSING— In its final game of 2024, Michigan State men’s basketball took care of business at home, defeating Western Michigan 80-62 on Monday.
It was a bittersweet homecoming for Western Michigan as head coach Dwayne Stephens, former MSU assistant coach under Tom Izzo for 19 years returned to the Breslin Center for the first time coaching against his former head coach.
“It was fun, but it was weird,” Stephens said postgame. “I have never been in that opposing locker room besides for today.”
Junior center Carson Cooper came alive as he recorded a season-high 13 points on the afternoon, attributing six rebounds as well.
“I was happy with what he did offensively, especially from the free throw line,” Izzo said postgame. “I thought he’s made a lot of improvements there”
As for Cooper, he has struggled over the past four games, averaging two points per game.
“I’ve been in a slump and for me to come out and put together a solid game is definitely a confidence booster for me heading into conference play,” Cooper said.
Both teams started sluggish in the first half as MSU only saw a 13-point lead at the end of the first 20 minutes. Each team recorded 11 first-half turnovers, allowing neither team to control momentum to start the game.
“I thought we played like we thought we were going to win the game. Give them credit, they played, but we threw some balls right to them,” Izzo said.
In the second half, senior guard Jaden Akins added seven second-half points en route to a game-high 18 points on 6-13 shooting from the field. Sophomore forward Coen Carr led the second half with all of his nine points coming in the final 20 minutes.
Carr finished his performance with a three-pointer from the left corner, only his second three of his MSU career. Carr was a big focal point in leadership as Izzo said Carr was “the biggest voice” in team huddles Monday afternoon.
“I put an emphasis on my voice, my team trusts me and once I see that voice matters, I just fill in that role and take control,” Carr said.
With eyes set on conference play, MSU prepares to head to Colombus to face off against Ohio State (9-4 overall record, 1-1 conference record).
Senior center Szymon Zapala, who added a season-high nine rebounds against the Broncos knows the physicality is going to ramp up against conference opponents.
“We feel good about ourselves, there’s a high ceiling but you can’t get too high. Be confident about what we can do but we also can’t get too high about it,” Zapala said.
MSU heads into a four-day break sitting at 11-2 and 2-0 in B1G play, as it prepares to face off against Ohio State on Friday. Tip-off between the Spartans and Buckeyes is set for 8 p.m. airing on FOX.
