Spartan Nation

Spartan Nation Reacts To Yearly Christmas Matchup With Oakland

MSU faced off against Oakland for their yearly matchup, and Spartan Nation had many things to say about their holiday win.
Nathan Berry|
A Michigan State fan cheers at the game against Michigan on Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.
A Michigan State fan cheers at the game against Michigan on Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing. | Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

In this story:

Michigan State Spartans

DETROIT-- With aspirations of improving their record to 11-1, Michigan State made its way to Little Caesars Arena to take on Oakland in its yearly matchup.

Many Spartan faithful traveled to see their team in person, but most couldn't make it, so they took to social media so that they could make their voice known for the Spartans.

MSU had some Christmas spirit going, but more importantly, they were ready to defend their perfect record against the Golden Grizzlies, all starting in the first half.

The First Half

The Spartans started out the game neck and neck with Oakland; for every shot that they would make, Oakland would respond and vice versa.

However, MSU was sloppy on offense, and they began to let the Golden Grizzlies get ahead every few possessions, a pattern in which Spartan Nation noticed and was not happy with.

The consistent slipping on offense allowed Oakland to slowly build a lead, eventually having the Spartans down by seven after seven minutes of play.

MSU was not going to let it stay that way, though, and they climbed back just as quickly as they had fallen behind.

After 10 minutes of play, the game was tied 18-18, but Spartan Nation had expected much more, and they were incredibly dissatisfied with the game's start, especially with players like Coen Carr and more.

Because of Jordan Scott, MSU was able to take the lead and they tried not to let it go, doing so by starting to consistently make shots.

Nearing the end of the first half, the Spartans had heated up on offense, once again going blow for blow with the Oakland offense that started playing smoothly at the same time.

Once the Spartans and the Golden Grizzlies headed into halftime the score was 39-36 in MSU's favor, and there was a lot of work ahead to ensure their record would to become 11-1.

The Second Half

Coen Carr opened up the second half scoring-wise with a three-pointer, and afterwards, MSU began to go on a run.

Before anybody could even bat an eye, the Spartans were up by 10 and the game was starting to look as though it was in their control, which was exciting to see for Spartan Nation, and they needed to see more.

MSU's play started to digress in the upcoming minutes, but they still retained a lead once the game had 10 minutes left to go.

Normally, a lead like this would be getting major engagement from Spartan fans around the state; however, MSU announced the plan to hire a new football offensive coordinator during the basketball game, which stole much of the attention that would have gone to the basketball game.

Regardless, people were still unhappy with the team and believed that they should have had a much bigger lead than eight points.

The game continued to be sloppy and the clean play that had been seen at the beginning of the second half was, for the most part, long gone.

However, MSU had gotten out to a lead at the start of the half, and even though they were back to going blow for blow, they were still retaining that lead, being up by six with less than five minutes to go. As expected, this was not satisfactory to fans.

MSU was able to hold out for the victory against the Golden Grizzlies with a final score of 79-70, but they would need to switch things up in their next game to impress Spartan Nation.

Keep up with all our content when you follow the official Spartan Nation page on Facebook, Spartan Nation, WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE, and be sure to share your thoughts on MSU's game against Oakland when you join our community group, Go Green Go White, WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE. Don't forget to give us a follow on X @MSUSpartansOnSI as well.

Never again miss one major story related to your beloved Spartans when you sign up for our 100% FREE newsletter that comes straight to your email with the latest news. SIGN UP HERE NOW

Published
Nathan Berry
NATHAN BERRY

Nathan Berry is a senior at NCCS and was raised a Michigan State Spartan fan. With a great interest in sports and writing, journalism is a great avenue to pursue both.