Jaxon Kohler scored 16 points and grabbed 15 rebounds and Jeremy Fears Jr. added 14 points and 10 assists Monday night to lead No. 22 Michigan State to an 80-69 victory over Colgate in the season-opener for both schools.
Coen Carr also had 12 points for the Spartans, who improved to 23-8 in openers under coach Tom Izzo.
Sam Wright scored 17 points and Andrew Alekseyenko added 14 for the Raiders. Jalen Cox also had 12 points and eight rebounds for Colgate, which led only once when Alekseyenko hit a 3-pointer on the first shot of the game.
Michigan State struggled most of the game, getting into an offensive rhythm. The Spartans, who won the Big Ten regular season title last year, had to replace three starters and four letter-winners who accounted for 63.5% of the team’s scoring.
The Raiders kept the game close in the first half and tied it twice in the second half before the Spartans started pulling away. With the game tied at 41 early in the second half, Carr scored six points during a 21-6 Michigan State run that broke the game open.
Wright scored five points during an 8-0 run midway through the half to pull Colgate within seven, but that’s as close as it could get.
Both teams struggled to shoot the ball in the first half as they combined to hit only 26 of 61 shots. Michigan State finished 25 of 60 from the field and Colgate made 27 of 57. The Spartans outrebounded the Raiders 47-25.
It was the first meeting between the two schools since the 1932-33 season.
Next, Colgate hosts Northeastern on Friday night, and Michigan State hosts No. 14 Arkansas on Saturday.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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