EAST LANSING — Coen Carr’s dazzling above-the-rim play gets plenty of things going.
Michigan State basketball’s offense. The Breslin Center crowd. And his opponents’ glassy-eyed gazes on how he did it.
With Florida Atlantic giving the 19th-ranked Spartans the type of game Tom Izzo expected early Saturday afternoon, the sophomore swingman delivered a pair of highlight reel dunks to ignite a 23-9 first-half finish and send MSU into the Christmas break with an 86-69 victory.
Carr finished with a career-high 17 points on 7-for-9 shooting, with five of his buckets coming on slams. He also had a personal-best eight rebounds and delivered a monster block in the second half, following it with his first career 3-pointer as part of another balanced effort from the Spartans.
AT THE POINT: A year after being shot, Jeremy Fears Jr. showing toughness for Michigan State basketball
Jeremy Fears Jr. also had a career high with 13 points to go with eight assists. Jaden Akins added 13 points, and Frankie Fidler scored 10 as MSU had a 48-36 rebounding advantage and held the Owls to 4-for-22 from 3-point range.
The Spartan (10-2) are off until they host Western Michigan (and former MSU player and assistant coach Dwayne Stevens) on Dec. 30.
Tre Carroll scored 24 points and Baba Miller had 12 points and seven rebounds for Florida Atlantic (7-6).
Coen Carr takes flight
Izzo expressed concern about the size and talent level of the Owls coming into Saturday’s matinee, calling them the best nonconference team the Spartans would play outside of their major opponents in Champions Classic and Maui Invitational.
For 12 minutes, his assessment proved spot on. Florida Atlantic countered every punch, answering MSU’s 8-0 run early with seven straight points following six in a row from the Spartans with a pair of buckets. The Owls led four times in the first 12-plus minutes, including 20-19 on a dunk by Miller.
That’s when Carr took flight. After a Richardson free throw tied it up, Carr collected a near-turnover when Tre Holloman’s pass got tipped in traffic and then raced through the FAU defenders toward the basket. He took two dribbles, made a Eurostep move between two Owls as he approached takeoff and slammed it with his left hand over Carroll.
Then after a Szymon Zapala dunk through a foul, finishing off the three-point play, Carr took off again in transition after MSU forced a turnover. Fears found him in stride, and Carr soared in for a left-handed tomahawk dunk.
MSU’s newfound desire and ability to draw contact this season paid off, with FAU getting whistled for 15 first-half fouls and the Spartans making 12 of 14 free-throw attempts at halftime and a 42-20 lead at the break.
Jaxon Kohler cleans up the boards
Despite the strong surge, including the first four points after halftime, MSU could not pull away from the Owls in the early part of the second half. But a Carr dunk off a wrap-around assist from Jase Richardson and a Richardson 3-pointer sparked the final put-away run.
Carr delivered on another alley-oop dunk, his chin nearly at the rim, off a pass from Fears. Then Holloman buried a 3-pointer to extend the lead to 58-42 at the midpoint of the half. It swelled to as many as 20.
Fears also managed the offense efficiently, committing just one turnover in his 23 minutes.
Jaxon Kohler, who struggled to score around the basket, finished with 12 rebounds to go with six points on 2-for-9 shooting.
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.
Subscribe to the “Spartan Speak” podcast for new episodes weekly on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or anywhere you listen to podcasts. And catch all of our podcasts and daily voice briefing at freep.com/podcasts.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State basketball loads up on Coen Carr in 86-69 win over FAU
