No. 16 Michigan State’s defense shuts down Washington

Jaden Akins had 20 points and No. 16 Michigan State extended its winning streak to eight games with an 88-54 victory over Washington in East Lansing, Mich., on Thursday night.Jeremy Fears Jr. notch

No. 16 Michigan State’s defense shuts down Washington

Jaden Akins had 20 points and No. 16 Michigan State extended its winning streak to eight games with an 88-54 victory over Washington in East Lansing, Mich., on Thursday night.

Jeremy Fears Jr. notched his first career double-double with 12 points and a season-high 10 assists for the Spartans (13-2, 4-0 Big Ten), who trailed for only nine seconds. Jase Richardson supplied 12 points and Tre Holloman tossed in 11 while dishing out six assists.

Tyler Harris led Washington (10-6, 1-4) with 14 points and Zoom Diallo added eight points. The Huskies didn’t make a field goal during the first 10 minutes, missing their first 14 attempts while committing four turnovers.

Michigan State led 42-13 at halftime.

Fears and Akins scored the first two Spartans baskets on 3-point shots. A pair of Richardson baskets sandwiched an Akins layup. Holloman found Szymon Zapala for an uncontested layup before Coen Carr brought the capacity crowd to its feet with a power dunk after a Huskies turnover to make it 16-1.

KC Ibekwe ended Washington’s field-goal drought on a putback with 9:35 remaining in the half.

After Washington pulled within 12, the Spartans went on a 12-2 run to make it 32-10. Frankie Fidler hit a 3-pointer to start that run and Fears completed it with a three-point play.

Akins’ fastbreak layup with 1:15 left in the half after another Washington turnover extended the Spartans’ lead to 29 points.

The Huskies made just 5 of 29 field-goal attempts (17.2 percent) and went 3-for-8 from the free-throw line prior to the break. They also committed eight turnovers.

Washington couldn’t muster a run in the second half. Akins’ steal and dunk with 16:39 left increased Michigan State’s lead to 54-20. He followed that up with a 3-pointer.

The programs met for the first time since 2010, and Michigan State improved to 5-2 in the all-time series.