Michigan State roles continue to be refined as Tom Izzo pushes Jaden Akins to find his best

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Tom Izzo doesn’t like for playing time decisions to be scrutinized by media or fans. But it’s hard not to notice when things fluctuate a bit at Michigan State. The Spartans' leading scorer, Jaden Akins, played a season-low 18 minutes during Saturday’s 79-65 victory at Illinois. Jaxon Kohler led the Spartans in minutes played (29) for the first time in his career. Izzo gave point guard duties to Tre Holloman, rather than Jeremy Fears, for the closing stages of the game and Carson Cooper continued to provide strong glue minutes off the bench. Akins’ role became reduced, for once. But he still made an impact against the Illini, and Izzo indicated that diminished minutes for Akins isn’t something the head coach is expecting, going forward. “We need Jaden Akins to be the Jaden Akins I think he can be,” Izzo said. INSIDE: More insight, analysis and what's next for Akins and the playing group.