Kohler Provides Bright Spot for MSU in Duke Loss

Looking to keep their perfect season alive against Duke, Michigan State needed to have every player at the top of their game.

Unfortunately for the Spartans that was not the case, as players like Jeremy Fears Jr. had abysmal shooting but need not to be worried about despite the loss.

The team still had some bright spots such as Carson Cooper in the close 66-60 loss, but for the most part every player was polarizing in some fashion.

Jaxon Kohler, MSU — Michigan State's Jordan Scott, left, blocks a shot by Duke's Nikolas Khamenia, center, as Jaxon Kohler assists on the play during the second half on Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, at the Breslin Center in East Lansing. | Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Luckily for the Spartans, Jaxon Kohler was not one of those players as he was able to remain consistent to the standards he has set for himself based on the team's previous games against ranked opponents.

What Kohler Did Well Against Duke

Jaxon Kohler, MS — Michigan State's Jaxon Kohler makes a 3-pointer against Duke during the first half on Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, at the Breslin Center in East Lansing. | Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Rebounds

When looking at every ranked team that the Spartans have faced, Kohler has been generally great in both getting the ball back to his team after missed shots.

He, on average, has been able to get 7.5 rebounds against ranked opponents, and he hit that mark as close as possible by reaching seven in total.

That was good enough to give him the second-highest rebound total of the team, a place in which they needed to perform better, and he performed up to his high standards.

Assists

Another place in which Kohler remained consistent was in assists, because he normally is able to pull off two assists, and did just that against the Blue Devils.

In such a low-scoring game, that performance is even more impressive, and his level of play was kept high in assists.

Scoring

MSU, — Michigan State forward Jaxon Kohler (0) looks to pass against Duke center Patrick Ngongba (21) during the first half at Breslin Center in East Lansing on Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

In the same way that he helped his teammates score, Kohler himself was also able to score in unison with his play against other ranked teams.

His performances in the team's other three matches were 10, 10, and 20, which comes out as an average of 12.5 points a game.

Against Duke he pulled of 14 points, exceeding the average and once again being the second highest on the team, much better than what was put forth by most players.

Jaxon Kohler played very well against the Blue Devils in the ways that he could and stayed on the mark with his past performaces against ranked teams.

Going forward his consistency will be huge for the team that has been so back and forth between games, and he will be what makes MSU stable in their basketball program this year, just like new hires with the football program.

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