Spartans fall flat

ORLANDO, Fla. - It's straight to the losers bracket for Michigan State at the Old Spice Classic, and that's probably best for Tom Izzo's discombobulated team.

Offensively, defensively and at the free-throw line, No. 5 MSU had a dismal Thanksgiving evening against unranked Maryland, losing 80-62 in the tournament's first round at Disneyworld's Milk House.

"Very disappointing," said MSU sophomore guard Kalin Lucas, one of many Spartans who struggled. "They came out with a lot of energy and we didn't, from the beginning."

MSU (2-1) can do no better than fifth place here. It will play the loser of Thursday's late game between No. 9 Gonzaga and Oklahoma State, at about 8 p.m. today (ESPNU).

Then MSU will play Sunday against either Siena or Wichita State. No. 12 Tennessee and No. 21 Georgetown both won Thursday, so a much-anticipated stretch of high-profile games this weekend will not materialize for the Spartans.

That might be a good thing for MSU, which doesn't look ready for anything like that - although it can't get out of Wednesday's date with No. 1 North Carolina at Ford Field.

The Terrapins (4-0) shot 49.1 percent from the floor, getting layups and open 3-pointers all night against MSU's step-slow defense.

"That's not Michigan State basketball," said MSU senior guard Travis Walton, a defensive specialist who saved his team from a worse result by scoring a career-high 16 points. "We've never played like that."

Personnel is part of the problem. MSU played Thursday without senior center Goran Suton, who hurt his left knee in last week's win at Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne and could not go.

Suton also won't play today, coach Tom Izzo said, and his status is uncertain for Sunday and beyond. Izzo started Marquise Gray in his place and played freshman forward Delvon Roe for 12 minutes in the first half.

Roe, who is still recovering from surgeries on both knees, is being limited by doctors to about 18 minutes a game, so he played just five in the second half.

"And then the worst thing that could happen, happened. Raymar (Morgan) got in foul trouble," Izzo said. "I mean, he didn't even play, really."

Morgan picked up three fouls in the first half, then got his fourth just two minutes into the second half. After scoring 43 points in the season's first two games, he scored four in 14 minutes Thursday.

"I didn't think so," Morgan said when asked if he was playing too aggressively, "but I guess the refs did."

At one point in the first half, MSU had a lineup with freshmen Roe, Draymond Green and Korie Lucious, redshirt freshman Austin Thornton and Walton.

"We're not a top-five team, top-10 team, top-20 team or top-30 team with that (lineup) in there," Izzo said.

"It's really been a mess to deal with that whole thing, to be honest with you," Izzo said of the Suton injury and Roe recovery. "But I don't think there's any excuse for the defensive lapses."

They came alarmingly often, helping Maryland light-scoring reserve forward Dave Neal blow up for 17 points. Greivis Vasquez also had 17 for the Terps.

Sophomore guard Durrell Summers was the only Spartan other than Walton to hit double figures, with 10.

Lucas and sophomore guard Chris Allen combined to shoot 5 of 21 from the field and 1 of 6 from the foul line. MSU was an abysmal 12 of 27 from the line as a team, ruining any chance it had of staying in the game.

Walton tried to keep them in it. The career 3.9-a-game scorer hit a jumper with one second left in the first half, off a Roe steal and assist, to cut Maryland's lead to 37-34 at the break.

The Milk House rocked, with an overwhelming majority of the 4,464 fans in attendance sporting MSU green. They were even louder after a driving Walton layup early in the second half capped a 12-0 MSU run and made it 40-37 Spartans.

They didn't make much noise the rest of the night. It all caved in quickly, with Maryland going on an 18-5 run over five minutes to go up 55-45.

And the lead kept growing against a team helpless to do anything about it on the defensive end.

"It's big," Lucas said of the dose of reality MSU received. "We have a lot of work to do, especially on defense."