MSU's Kohler, Carr Break Down Spartans' Victory over Oakland
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DETROIT --- Jaxon Kohler and Coen Carr were two of the sparks No. 9 Michigan State needed to outlast Oakland on Saturday.
Carr scored a career-high 22 points, along with seven rebounds, during the 79-70 win. He scored 16 points during the second half, and did it all with a left eye that "actually feels worse than it looks." Kohler had his seventh double-double of the season, scoring 13 points with 13 rebounds.
Following the Spartans' victory, Carr and Kohler sat down to talk over the game and the different things they noticed from it. A video of their entire press conference has been provided below.
Watch MSU's Coen Carr and Jaxon Kohler here:
More from Carr, Kohler
Coen Carr
Carr started the game wearing a pair of goggles, likely to protect his eyes after he was poked there during practice. Despite the stats that indicate a career night, Carr started pretty slow, missing two threes and committing a turnover before being subbed out a little more than three minutes into the game. Carr refused to blame the goggles for any part of his slow start.
"I think I was just playing bad," Carr said. "I wasn't putting that on my goggles."
Carr's surge in the second half is a big reason the Spartans got the win. Even though Oakland head coach Greg Kampe said he wanted Carr to be shooting threes, Carr made a three-pointer early in the second half, had a couple of and-ones, and ended up scoring 16 of Michigan State's 40 second-half points.
“He had a pretty good game,” MSU head coach Tom Izzo said. “I mean, he still missed some wide open shots, but I think he got some confidence, and he did get some big time rebounds, and that's the way he's gotta play. We need him to play well if we're gonna be anything better than we are.”
Jaxon Kohler
Kohler's double-double cannot be ignored, either, but it's not really a surprise anymore, since that's literally an average game for him now. The senior big man is now averaging 13.9 points and 10.3 rebounds per game through 12 contests this season. Kohler's averaging scoring output about six points higher, along with nearly three more rebounds per game.
A good chunk of Kohler's work was done in the first half of this game. He had a double-double by halftime on Tuesday against Toledo, and nearly did so again on Saturday. Kohler had nine points and nine rebounds at the break.
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A 2025 graduate from Michigan State University, Cotsonika brings a wealth of experience covering the Spartans from Rivals and On3 to his role as Michigan State Spartans Beat Writer on SI. At Michigan State, he was also a member of the world-renowned Spartan marching band for two seasons.
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