Spartans' Akins Turns in Much-Needed Bounce-Back Outing

The No. 8 Michigan State Spartans (24-5, 15-3) earned a much-needed home win over the No. 11 Wisconsin Badgers (22-7, 12-6) at the Breslin Center, Monday afternoon. The Spartans' leading scorer this season, senior guard Jaden Akins, put together a necessary bounce-back performance for himself.

Akins dropped a game-high 19 points, his highest point total since scoring 20 on Jan. 9 in a win over the Washington Huskies at home. The fourth-year Spartan tied a season-high with four made three-pointers while adding eight rebounds.

Entering the contest, Akins had been struggling over the past few games amidst the Spartans' most important stretch of the season. He was shooting an ugly 29% (12-41) from the field over his past four games but was able to earn a bounce-back outing to boost his confidence.

Spartans coach Tom Izzo credited Akins for his standout performance but drew special attention to how he played on the defensive end and in the rebound game.

"There's no question, Jaden Akins not only did it offensively, but he did a hell of a job defensively and he got eight rebounds," Izzo said postgame. "That's something else we've been on him about, so give Jaden a lot of credit. You hang with guys that are good people and he's a good person and he continued to work, even though he was slumping and deserve what he got, good game."

The Farmington Hills native hit some of the biggest shots of the game, specifically in the first half. Even with the struggles that he has been faced with in recent games, Akins' confidence to shoot the basketball from anywhere on the floor has not wavered.

There are times when Akins may take a few ill-advised shots throughout a game, but his overall production is beneficial to the Spartans when shooting the ball at a decent clip. His ball security and basketball IQ is a huge reason why he averages a team-high 26.3 minutes per contest.

The Spartans will hit the road for the final time in the regular season as they travel to face the Iowa Hawkeyes (15-14, 6-12) on Thursday night. If Akins can continue to contribute like he did on Sunday, the Spartans will be in great shape to finish the season strong with a Big Ten title in hand.

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