EAST LANSING — Jaden Akins and Tom Izzo both breathed big sighs of relief.
The sophomore guard “tweaked” his surgically repaired left ankle during Michigan State basketball’s 73-71 victory Friday over Villanova. However, his head coach Monday said X-rays were negative and, after consulting with the specialist who did the surgery in September, it will be up to how Akins feels for when he comes back for the Spartans during this week’s three-games-in-four-days Phil Knight Invitational.
“Of all the kids that I think could handle it, he's smart enough to handle it, he's tough enough to handle it, he's athletic enough to handle it,” Izzo said during his weekly news conference.