Jaden Akins scored a career-high 25 points to lead Michigan State to an 83-75 win over Samford on Tuesday in East Lansing, Mich.
Akins shot 10-of-15 from the field overall before fouling out with 45 seconds remaining.
Jase Richardson and Frankie Fidler each scored 12 points and Szymon Zapala added 10 points and six rebounds for Michigan State (4-1).
The Spartans shot 50.9 percent from the field overall (28 of 55) and made 20 of 23 attempts from the free-throw line.
Jaden Brownell scored 19 points, Josh Holloway scored 14 and Lukas Walls had 12 in defeat for Samford (4-2), which committed 19 turnovers.
The Bulldogs shot 49.1 percent from the field (28 of 57) and 34.6 percent from 3-point range (9 of 26).
After Samford pulled within five with 6:27 left in the game, Akins hit three consecutive shots — two 3-pointers and a fastbreak layup — to give Michigan State a 72-59 lead with 4:52 remaining.
Samford cut the Michigan State lead to 79-73 with 31 seconds remaining, but a pair of free throws by Jaxon Kohler with 22 seconds left effectively iced it.
The Spartans held a 38-28 lead at halftime and went up 51-39 with 15:01 remaining before Samford answered with an 8-2 run to cut its deficit to six with 13:23 left.
Samford got off to a great start, scoring 12 of the game’s first 16 points and then taking a 21-8 lead with 10:04 remaining in the first half.
Michigan State got going after that, scoring six straight points to cut its deficit to 21-14 and then ultimately tying the game 23-23 with 4:32 left following a steal and dunk by Akins.
With the game tied at 25, Michigan State poured in 11 straight points to take a 36-25 lead with 1:39 before halftime after a three-point play by Akins.