Michigan State guards Jeremy Fears Jr., center, Jase Richardson, left, and Florida Atlantic guard Devin Vanterpool eye a loose ball during an on Saturday in East Lansing. (AP photo)

EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Coen Carr had career highs of 17 points and eight rebounds, lifting No. 20 Michigan State to an 86-69 victory over Florida Atlantic on Saturday.

The Spartans (10-2) have won five straight and eight of nine.

The Owls (7-6) had won three straight, averaging 87-plus points in those games.

Florida Atlantic’s Tre Carroll scored 24 points and Baba Miller had 12.

Michigan State got off to a rough start and the Owls took advantage, leading for four-plus minutes before Carr made a pair of crowd-pleasing dunks.

Carr shot 7 of 9, including a 3-pointer, and made both of his free throws in a performance that surpassed his previous career highs in points and rebounds set in a win over then-No. 12 North Carolina last month at the Maui Invitational.

Jeremy Fears and Jaden Akins scored 13 points apiece and Frankie Fidler scored eight of his 10 points in the first half for the Spartans.

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Takeaways

Florida Atlantic: First-year coach John Jakus, hired to replace Dusty May when he left for Michigan, can take positives from the closely contested start of the game.

Michigan State: Carr’s dunks add desperately needed energy for a team that has emotional lulls.

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Key moment

Carr made a tiebreaking dunk with 6:45 left in the first half, sparking a 22-9 run.

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Key stat

Fears had eight assists and one turnover, directing the offense with nearly flawless play.

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Up next

Michigan State hosts Dwayne Stephens-led Western Michigan on Dec. 30. Stephens played for the Spartans and was on Tom Izzo’s coaching staff for 19 seasons before being hired in 2022. Florida Atlantic hosts No. 21 Memphis on Jan. 2 in its American Athletic Conference opener.

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Follow Larry Lage at https://apnews.com/author/larry-lage

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