DETROIT — Michigan State put its perfect record against Oakland on the line Tuesday night at Little Caesars Arena, and thanks to another balanced offensive attack, it won for the 20th straight time over the Golden Grizzlies.
Max Christie scored 17 points as No. 11 Michigan State defeated Oakland, 90-78, in front of pro-MSU crowd of 16,837 for the Golden Grizzlies’ “home” game.
Marcus Bingham Jr. added 17 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks while Gabe Brown scored 14 points and Malik Hall chipped in 13 for the Spartans (10-2), who are a perfect 20-0 against the Golden Grizzlies. Tyson Walker added 10 points and matched a career high with 10.
Oakland (7-4) had four players score in double figures, but they were the only four who scored. Jalen Moore poured in 25 while Jamal Cain scored 20, Micah Parrish had 19 points and Trey Townsend chipped in 14 points.
It was a heck of an offensive start for both teams as Michigan State scored the first eight points of the game before Oakland started heating up, hitting three 3-pointers over the opening six minutes to get back in the game and pull within 17-15 with just less than 14 minutes to play in the half.
The Michigan State lead was eventually trimmed to one at 21-20 on back-to-back jumpers from Cain, but the Spartans responded with eight points in a row to put together a 13-2 run that gave them their biggest lead at that point, 34-22, with 7:30 left in the half. A Brown triple off an offensive rebound sparked the run while Hall scored seven during that stretch.
Oakland bounced right back with its own 13-2 run, hitting three 3-pointers, including two in a row from Cain, cutting the Michigan State advantage to 36-35 with 3:35 to play.
After Bingham dunked home a lob pass from Walker, Brown then hammered home a 3-point miss from Christie, setting off Oakland coach Greg Kampe, who thought offensive goaltending should have been called. He was hit with a technical foul and Brown made both free throws.
Bingham then scored on another lob dunk as Michigan State closed the half with an 8-0 surge to take a 44-35 lead into the halftime locker room.
The Spartans shot 52.9% on 18-for-34 shooting, but after making their first two triples, ended just 4-for-14 from long range. Oakland nailed six 3-pointers, going 6-for-13 to help the Golden Grizzlies stay in the game in the opening 20 minutes.
The second half started almost as quickly for the Spartans with Walker nailing a pair of 3-pointers around a Cain drive and dunk to give Michigan State a 50-37 lead. A triple from Jaden Akins gave Michigan State a 53-40 lead moments later but Oakland got a 3-pointer from Moore and free throws from Parrish to pull within 53-45.
After a Julius Marble layup and three more free throws from Moore, Michigan State regained the momentum on a lob dunk to Bingham, a triple in the corner from Christie and a driving layup from A.J. Hoggard to push the lead to 62-50 with 12:33 to play.
The Spartans extended the lead to 67-52 on a 3-pointer from Brown as Oakland tried to make a run late in the half. But a lob pass to Brown gave the Spartans a 73-60 lead with 7:55 to play as Michigan State continued to hold off any potential surge from the Grizzlies.
Michigan State extended the lead to 82-66 on the fourth 3-poitner from Christie with 3:56 to play, essentially putting the game out of reach.
Parrish hit a 3-pointer from the corner to pull Oakland within 10 points with 2:17 left in the game and Oakland got within eight with less than two minutes to play, but Christie and Bingham scored late to close things out.
