Michigan State senior Jaden Akins likely thought that his final year in Green and White would progress a little differently than it did. After grinding quietly for two years in the shadow of former Spartans guards Tyson Walker and A.J. Hoggard, the 2024-25 season was Akins chance to step into the leading roll in East Lansing.
But the first month of the season got off to a bit of rocky start. Akins only managed two points on 1-for-8 shooting in the Spartans' marquee early season game, a loss to Kansas in the Champions Classic. Despite shooting a red-hot 38% from deep over his first three seasons on campus, Akins was just 7-36 (19%) in the month of November.
Akins nominally led the Spartans in scoring, but in the early weeks of the season Michigan State basketball observes started to question whether the Spartans had a "go-to guy" that they could rely on at crunch time. The often unspoken subtext was "that guy" was supposed to be Akins.
As the season marched along and November turned into December, the Spartans found a different formula for success. "Strength in numbers" is what they called it. Maybe the Spartans didn't need a "go-to-guy." Instead, they possessed platoon of capable wings, all of whom could inflict damage on opponents in slightly different ways.
At the same time, freshman guard Jase Richardson began to blossom as a playmaker, a scorer, and the Spartans' most reliable outside shooter. The Big Ten all-freshman team selectee is widely considered to be Michigan State's best player with the highest NBA ceiling. Young Richardson has become "that guy" for the Spartans.
The reformulated strategy seemed to work. The Spartans ripped through a relatively light schedule in December and January without a loss. They went on to win the regular season Big Ten Title by a whopping three games.
Akins continues to lead the Spartans in scoring at 12.7 points per game. He also made the Big Ten All-Defensive Team and is considered Michigan State's best on-ball defender. But he has spent much of the last two month being the Spartans' second or third option on offense.
But March has a funny way of bringing out the best of seniors. Former guard Spartan Travis Trice endured a career riddled with injuries until he kicked his game into overdrive in the final month of his tenure in 2015. Trice put up 19.8 points in the first four games of the NCAA Tournament and willed the Spartans to Tom Izzo's seventh Final Four.
Almost overnight, Trice became "that guy" when Michigan State needed him the most. Fast forward 10 years to a Sunday night in Cleveland, Ohio. On a night when the Spartans desperately needed it, Akin emerged from the shadows.
"We started ugly," Akins said following the second round NCAA Tournament game against the Lobos of New Mexico. "They got on us in the beginning, but we just tried to stay solid throughout the game."
Ugly might be an understatement. New Mexico hit the Spartans with a 10-2 run to open the game. Michigan State clawed back to cut the deficit to three points, only to have the Lobos strike back with an 8-1 run to push the lead to 10 points with nine minutes left in the first half.
The Spartans were struggling to score and struggling to defend. Freshman phenom Richardson was uncharacteristically cold. Someone needed to do something.
Akins didn't exactly get off to the best start himself. He missed Spartans' first two attempts from the field. First, it was a mid-range jumper from just inside the arc, and then he missed a pseudo-desperation three-pointer to avoid a shot-clock violation.
But Akins tried something that often seems to help when shots aren't falling: get closer to the basket. He hit his first basket of the game on a fast break reverse layup five minutes into the game. In the first 20 minutes of the game, all eight of Akins' points came off layups or dunks.
"I feel like in transition, I just gotta start running harder," he said. "I got some easy buckets in transition that kind of calmed the game down for me."
As the Lobos found out, a calm Jaden Akins is a dangerous Jaden Akins. After missing those first two jumpers, he went 7-of-9 from the field and poured in a team high 16 points.
"I feel like I just was comfortable today," he said "I mean, I haven't really efficient, in a while, so it was good to be efficient."
Efficient might also be an understatement. Akins had an effective field goal percentage of 73%. Some might call that "blistering." He has not hit over six field goals in a game since the win over Washington on Jan. 9.
While he did most of his damage at the rim on Sunday, Akins also went 2-for-4 from the long line, including his crucial final basket of the game with just over seven minutes remaining in a tie game.
"Yeah, I feel like (that shot) was pretty big just giving us the lead," he said when asked about the shot. "It gave us some momentum. I think they called a time-out, so that just gave us a lot of confidence."
The Spartans soon pushed to the lead to six points and the Lobos would not get the score under a two-possession margin for the remainder of the game. Michigan State ended New Mexico's season by a score of 71-63.
"A win is a win," Akins said. "I feel like good teams find a way to win, and that's what we did."
The Spartans now move on the Sweet 16 where they will face the No. 6 seed Ole Miss Runnin' Rebels in the South Region host city of Atlanta. The last time Michigan State advanced this far in March was two years ago. In that Sweet 16 matchup. The Spartans' needed just one more basket or one more stop against No. 3 Kansas State. Instead, they succumbed to the Wildcats in overtime.
Akins played 37 minutes in that game and scored 14 points, including hitting four three-pointers. He was just a sophomore then and was just finding his rhythm as contributor. He remembers how close the Spartans were to advancing to what would have been a coin-flip Regional Final matchup with No. 9 Florida Atlantic.
The Final Four in 2023 was almost visible in the distance, until it wasn't. Even if Akins isn't "that guy" every night, this is still his team and this is still his last shot. He intends to make the most of it.
"I don't take it for granted," he said. "I'm gonna give it my all every time I step out (onto the court). I'm just gonna give it my all... I'm gonna get over the hump this time."
Somewhere, ten years later, Travis Trice is smiling.
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