Suton leads Michigan State in rout of Robert Morris

Suton leads Michigan State in rout of Robert Morris

Minneapolis, MN (Sports Network) - Goran Suton scored 11 points and grabbed a season-high 17 rebounds, as the second-seeded Michigan State Spartans easily advanced with a 77-62 rout of Robert Morris in first-round action of the NCAA Tournament in the Midwest Region.

Suton helped the Spartans (27-6) outrebound the Colonials (24-11), 49-28, including a 17-8 edge on the offensive glass. Michigan State, the Big Ten's regular-season champs, got 16 points from Raymar Morgan and 16 from Draymond Green, who normally averages just over two points a game. Green went 7-of-8 from the field.

"After we came out there and lost to Ohio State in the Big Ten Tournament, we had a great week of practice," Suton said. "I think we performed well. Hopefully, we'll carry some of this intensity into the next game."

Kalin Lucas provided 13 points, while Chris Allen had 10 for the Spartans, who will now face Southern California in the second round. The Trojans topped the Boston College Eagles, 72-55.

Jeremy Chappell led the Colonials with 11 points and seven rebounds, and Jimmy Langhurst had nine points for the Northeast Conference regular season and tourney champions. Mezie Nwigwe contributed eight points in the loss.

"I'm never satisfied with a loss," Chappel said. "Of course I wanted to win, who doesn't want to win their last game? Who doesn't want to go out on a bang? But you know, we played our hardest against a top-10 team, a number-two seed. Nobody quit on the team, that was the biggest key. Hopefully next year, with our returning players, they have the same drive to get back to where they are right now."

The Spartans got off to a quick 7-2 lead, but Robert Morris fought back to cut its deficit to 19-18 after a Gary Wallace jumper just past the eight-minute mark.

Michigan State went back up by five, 26-21, after a pair of Lucas free throws, but seven straight Robert Morris points, capped by a Nwigwe three, put the Colonials ahead by a pair with six minutes left.

The Spartans, though, closed the half on a 15-2 spurt to take an 11-point halftime lead. Green started it by tying the game at 28 on a layup, and he hit another basket with just under two minutes to close out the period's scoring, as Michigan State held a 41-30 advantage.

The second-seeded Spartans wasted no time turning the game into a rout in the second half, scoring the first 11 points of the period. Lucas had four of the points, and Green's layup 4 1/2 minutes in made it a 21-point margin.

Suton's jumper with 10 1/2 minutes left gave Michigan State a 64-41 advantage, and the game was never in doubt down the stretch.

Game Notes

Michigan State shot 45.9 percent from the field, while Robert Morris shot 41.0 percent...This marked the first-ever meeting between the two schools...The Spartans improved to 44-21 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, while the Colonials are now 1-6...Michigan State has made 12 straight tournament appearances, which is the fourth-longest active streak behind Arizona (25), Kansas (20) and Duke (14)...Suton's career-high in rebounds is 20.