Jaden Akins scored 11 of his 18 points in the first half, helping No. 18 Michigan State build a double-digit lead to set up an 80-62 win over Western Michigan on Monday in East Lansing, Mich.

The Spartans (11-2) have won six in a row and nine of 10.

The Broncos (3-9) were competitive in stretches of the game before falling behind by double digits midway through the second half.

Michigan State’s Carson Cooper scored a career-high 13 points.

Western Michigan’s Chansey Willis scored 12 points and Max Burton had 10.

The game marked the return of Dwayne Stephens, who was hired off Tom Izzo’s staff in 2022. Stephens was an assistant for the Hall of Fame coach for 19 seasons and played for the Spartans under the late coach Jud Heathcote.

Iowa State 79, Colorado 69 >> Curtis Jones scored 20 points, Keshon Gilbert had 14 and No. 3 Iowa State opened Big 12 Conference play with a win at Colorado.

The Cyclones (11-1) have won eight in a row, two over Colorado. They beat the Buffaloes 99-71 in the fifth-place game in the Maui Invitational on Nov. 27.

Julian Hammond III had 21 points and RJ Smith scored 14 for Colorado, which returned to the Big 12 after 13 seasons in the Pac-12 Conference.

It was the Buffaloes’ first Big 12 game since beating Nebraska 67-57 in Boulder on March 5, 2011.

Auburn 87, Monmouth 58 >> Johni Broome had 14 points and 11 rebounds, Dylan Cardwell had 12 points and 11 rebounds and No. 2 Auburn overcame a slow start to beat visiting Monmouth.

After an eight-day break between games, Auburn (12-1) struggled early and trailed Monmouth (2-11) for nearly seven minutes in the first half. Chaney Johnson then scored eight of his 12 points in quick succession to help the Tigers take control.

HOUSTON 60, OKLAHOMA STATE 47 >> J’Wan Roberts had 20 points and 11 rebounds to lead No. 14 Houston past Oklahoma State in the Big 12 Conference opener for both teams in Stillwater, Okla.

L.J. Cryer added 18 points and Oklahoma transfer Milos Uzan contributed 12 points and six rebounds for the Cougars (9-3), who began defense of their conference title by limited the Cowboys to 18 points in the first half on 6-of-27 shooting.

Brandon Newman led Oklahoma State (8-4) with 12 points off the bench and Robert Jennings added 10 as the Cowboys made just 14 of 54 (25.9%) shots from the field.

Kansas State 70, Cincinnati 67 >> Coleman Hawkins had 20 points and 10 rebounds, Dug McDaniel added 17 points and Kansas State led No. 16 Cincinnati nearly wire-to-wire to open the 20-game Big 12 conference grind in Manhattan, Kan.

David N’Guessan also had 13 points, and C.J. Jones made four free throws in the final 20 seconds, helping the Wildcats (7-5, 1-0) snap a three-game losing streak that had concluded their bitterly disappointing nonconference slate.

Kansas State led the Bearcats (10-2, 0-1) for all but 24 seconds.

IOWA 112, New Hampshire 70 >> Payton Sandfort had 15 points to lead six Iowa players in double figures and the Hawkeyes never trailed in their 112-70 win over visiting New Hampshire, the final nonconference game of the season for both teams.

Rutgers 91, Columbia 64 >> Ace Bailey scored 24 points, fellow freshman Dylan Harper recorded the first triple-double for Rutgers since 1983 and the Scarlet Knights beat Columbia in Piscataway, N.J.

Harper grabbed his 10th rebound with 5:05 remaining in the second half and he found Bailey for a layup at the other end for his 10th assist to secure the program’s first triple-double since star center Roy Hinson had 24 points, 10 rebounds and 10 blocks against Rhode Island on March 2, 1983.

Women

MIssissippi 93, Alcorn State 41 >> Starr Jacobs scored 14 points and No. 25 Mississippi cruised to a 93-41 win over Alcorn State in the Rebels’ final home tuneup before SEC play.

Sira Thienou and Tameiya Sadler both added 13 points for Ole Miss (10-3).