No. 16 Michigan State streaks into matchup with Washington

No. 16 Michigan State has the longest winning streak in the Big Ten.The Spartans (12-2, 3-0 Big Ten) will put their seven-game streak on the line when they host conference newcomer Washington (10-5, 1-3) on Thursday in East Lansing, Mich.Michigan State has been idle since Friday’s 69-62 win at Ohio State. For the fourth consecutive game, a different player led the Spartans in scoring. Szymon Zapala became the eighth player to lead them in scoring this season, as the 7-footer tossed in 15 points.Jaden Akins tops them in scoring at 13.6 points per game but no other player is averaging in double figures.”If everybody gets the ball and we move the ball,” forward Jaxon Kohler said, “I feel like that’s when we’re going to be at our best.”Michigan State’s other conference victories came in early December against Minnesota and Nebraska. The Spartans don’t have any more non-conference games on their schedule.”I’m excited we’re playing a lot of people and still getting a lot out of it,” coach Tom Izzo said. “I’m excited with the camaraderie and chemistry within the team. But we haven’t faced a lot of adversity yet.”Izzo’s club has managed to average 81.1 points despite being a poor 3-point shooting team (28.0 percent). That’s been the story of the season so far — they’ve found ways to win despite some inconsistent performances.”I do think we’ve done a lot,” Izzo said. “I do think we’ve played different ways. I think we’ve won in different ways. We’ve shot it well, we’ve shot it poorly. We’ve rebounded well, we’ve rebounded average. We’ve turned it over nine times, we’ve turned it over 17 times. Somehow, those all got to come together. If they do, you go from good to great.”

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