Tyson Walker scored 14 points to help No. 4 Michigan State earn a 74-51 home win over Southern Indiana on Thursday in East Lansing.
Jaden Akins had 13 points, seven rebounds and four steals; Malik Hall scored 12 points; and Mady Sissoko had 11 points and 10 rebounds to help the Spartans rebound from a season-opening upset loss to James Madison on Monday.
After going 1-of-20 from 3-point range against James Madison, Michigan State wasn’t much better against Southern Indiana, going 1-of-11 from 3-point territory.
But the Spartans had 10 players make a field goal in the game.
Jordan Tillmon scored 10 points and Jack Mielke came off the bench to score nine points on three made 3-pointers for Southern Indiana, which shot 31.7 percent from the field overall (19 of 60) and committed 15 turnovers.
Unlike in a preseason game against Tennessee and its season opener against James Madison, Michigan State got off to a good start, taking a 37-14 lead into halftime.
The Spartans’ lead grew to 43-16 with 18:51 remaining in the game before Southern Indiana went on a 12-0 run to make it 43-28 with 15:53 left.
But Michigan State responded with a run of its own, going on a 10-3 surge to take a 53-31 lead with 12:31 remaining.
The Spartans scored nine straight points later in the half to take a 71-43 lead with 4:54 left to put the game away.
Michigan State separated itself early in the first half, holding Southern Indiana scoreless for more than eight minutes and going on a 16-0 run to take a 26-6 lead with seven minutes remaining until halftime.
Southern Indiana cut its deficit to 31-14 with 2:52 to go in the first half, but the Spartans scored the final six points of the half to take a 37-14 lead at halftime.
–Field Level Media
