58 Point Win Margin and 118 point total are second highest marks in school history.
by SHANNON SHELTON DETROIT FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER
EAST LANSING -- A week off did Michigan State plenty of good.
In their first game since last Sunday's against Bradley, the No. 18 Spartans used a team effort to dominate Alcorn State, 118-60, on Saturday night at the Breslin Center.
Five players scored in double figures, and sophomore guard Chris Allen, who came off the bench, led all scorers with 20 points on 7-for-9 shooting. Every MSU player that entered the game scored, but the most impressive stat was the 35 assists the Spartans (6-2) collected on their 44 shots.
"Magic (Johnson) proved here that it's as much fun to give as it is to receive, and as much fun to make a great pass as it is to make a great shot," said coach Tom Izzo. "We're getting those wings to run a little bit better, which opens things up for Kalin (Lucas) especially."
MSU's performance set multiple records. The 35 assists were the most in school history, beating a previous high of 32. The 118 points were the second-most MSU has scored, three shy of the 121 scored in 1992 against Morehead State.
In the first half, the Spartans had 20 assists on 22 shots. Point guard Korie Lucious had seven and Lucas had six. Lucious finished with 11 assists, Lucas eight.
Michigan State led, 60-26, by halftime and shot 71% from the field. The Spartans shot 58.7% for the game.
"We knew we were going to play good because we practiced pretty good," said senior guard Travis Walton. "The way you practice is the way you play sometimes. We probably had the best practices during finals week that I've had in my four years here. It showed today with 35 assists and our point guards having 19 assists with just two turnovers."
A few players set career highs. Freshman forward Delvon Roe's 13 points and freshman forward Draymond Green's 10 points were their best totals; sophomore center Tom Herzog tied a career high with two blocks; and Allen tied his field-goal mark with seven.
"We just needed a game to get this team on track a little bit," Izzo said.
MSU started slow in the first 6 minutes, and Alcorn State led, 13-12, after an Anthony Ford jumper with 13:37 left in the first half. The Spartans answered with three consecutive buckets from their frontcourt players -- Green followed up on a missed jumper from Marquise Gray, and Gray then made back-to-back dunks on assists from Lucious.
The Spartans led, 18-13, and the Braves answered with a jumper from Jarvis Williams to make it 18-15. The Spartans then went on a 12-0 run to take a 15-point lead.
Izzo started center Idong Ibok to preserve MSU's rotation at the other four positions so Goran Suton can return to the role when he recovers from surgery. Suton has missed six games with a left knee injury and had a scope Dec. 4 to remove cartilage. Izzo said Suton began running earlier that day, however, and Suton said he hopes to return for the Texas game in Houston next Saturday.
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