Jaden Akins had career night against Michigan

Jaden Akins picked the perfect time to have a career game, putting up 23 points in a win over Michigan on Tuesday.

Michigan State is fresh off a massive 81-62 win against Michigan on Tuesday night in East Lansing. Many players played extremely well in this game, but arguably none had a better game than Jaden Akins.

Akins had such a good game that he set a career high in points.

JA led the way last night 🔥 pic.twitter.com/YxnjA71IPE

— Michigan State Men's Basketball (@MSU_Basketball) January 31, 2024

Jaden Akins career night

Jaden Akins had a monster game statistically against the Wolverines. He finished with 23 points on the night which is a career high for him. Akins also shot an efficient 8-for-13 from the field and a blistering 7-for-10 from the 3-point line. Akins, however, wasn’t just a scorer Tuesday night, he also finished with three rebounds and three assists as well.

Akins was also dominant on the defensive end as well, finishing with three steals. And to top it all off, he had a turnover-free game which is always extremely important for any guard.

Akins was arguably at his best in the first half when Michigan State needed him most. The Spartans struggled for most of the first half and Michigan was shooting the ball efficiently. Not many played well offensively for MSU to start the game, outside of Akins. The junior made shot after shot to keep the score close. Without his first half performance, MSU could’ve easily been down by double figures at halftime.

This is the Akins we need more of. We obviously can’t rely on him to score this much very often, but if he can be a consistent 12-15 point scorer for MSU then that would be perfect. Then to add in the occasional monster game like Tuesday night and he is the perfect player to compliment Tyson Walker and AJ Hoggard.

The Spartans next game is at home on Saturday against Maryland. I’ll be interested to see if Akins can keep this up because he can at times be a streaky scorer. Regardless, he is turning into a very reliable player for Michigan State at just the right time.