Spartans in giving mood in rout

EAST LANSING - Baskets were there for the taking Saturday night against overmatched Alcorn State, but it was the way Michigan State got them that impressed.

Good shots were passed up for great shots, in a display of unselfishness that reflected MSU's search for cohesion. In a 118-60 blasting of the Braves, the No. 18 Spartans (6-2) had a school-record 35 assists on 44 field goals - an extraordinary rate of 79.5 percent.

Basketball coaches generally consider 60 percent and up as evidence of good team basketball and execution. So Tom Izzo was understandably pleased with what he saw at Breslin Center.

"Right now we're looking for some steps, and that was definitely a step today," said Izzo, who prophetically wrote on the locker-room board before the game that Magic Johnson "proved it's better to give than receive."

This was a statistic padder, all right.

MSU's 118 points is tied for second in school history, just shy of the record of 121, set in 1992 against Morehead State. The previous record for assists was 32, reached three times and most recently in 2000.

"I think we needed that game," said MSU's Marquise Gray of a laugher that saw all 15 dressed Spartans play and score - including late, crowd-pleasing baskets from walk-ons Mike Kebler (Okemos) and Jon Crandell.

Freshman backup point guard Korie Lucious led the passing parade with 11 assists. Starting point guard Kalin Lucas had 16 points, eight assists and no turnovers.

Sophomore Chris Allen had his third straight hot-shooting night, hitting 4 of 5 from 3-point range and scoring a game-high 20 points off the bench. Freshman forward Delvon Roe had his best game yet with 13 points and eight rebounds.

Raymar Morgan also scored 13, and freshman forward Draymond Green came off the bench for 10 points and seven boards.

Durrell Summers scored nine and Travis Walton eight for the Spartans, who shot 58.7 percent as a team. And MSU turned it over just 10 times - another point of emphasis - in a fast-paced game that saw the Spartans collect 27 transition points.

After one half, MSU had a 60-26 lead, with 20 assists on 22 baskets, which Izzo called "unbelievable." The Spartans shot 71 percent in the first 20 minutes, with seven assists from Lucious and six from Lucas.

"Nobody's selfish right now," Lucas said. "Everybody's trying to get guys shots."

All the ingredients were in place for a sleepy night at Breslin. The student section "Izzone" was gone, replaced by full-grown, politely applauding adults. The Spartans were coming off finals week and playing a name-your-score opponent.

But along with the passing, MSU brought hustle, defense and rebounding. Izzo has been looking for more togetherness on both ends of the floor, and a week of practice with no games appeared to pay off.

Izzo said MSU was coming off "as good a four days of practice as we've had all year, and to have them during finals week is even more impressive."

"How you practice is how you play," Walton said.

MSU dominated the boards against the smaller Braves, 53-26. Marquise Gray had eight rebounds to go with his seven points. Roe had four of MSU's 17 offensive boards.

Alcorn State (2-7) shot just 34.4 percent, with four assists and 17 turnovers. Leading scorer Troy Jackson had 15 points, six below his average, missing all six of his 3-point attempts and making 6 of 17 overall.

"It was a nightmare, but (MSU) is a very good team," Alcorn State coach Larry Smith said. "They did whatever they wanted to do."

The Spartans called it a collective step forward, with more needed before a trip to play No. 6 Texas in Houston in a week. MSU has one more warmup before that test, at home Wednesday against The Citadel.

Then it's the Longhorns, a dangerous Oakland team at The Palace of Auburn Hills, and then Big Ten play.

Senior center Goran Suton (knee) missed his sixth straight game, but he did some running Saturday and has an outside chance of playing against Texas.

His quick recovery is more welcome news for a team that has faced enough adversity to keep Saturday's performance in perspective.

"We've been beat up already," Izzo said. "We know we're not world beaters yet. We know where we are."

MSU 118, Alcorn St. 60
MSU (118)
Player M FG FT R A F Pt
Ibok 7 1-2 0-0 3 0 0 2
Lucas 25 4-10 6-8 0 8 0 16
Morgan 21 5-9 3-7 5 2 0 13
Walton 18 4-7 0-0 1 2 3 8
Roe 20 6-8 1-3 8 0 3 13
Allen 18 7-9 2-2 3 4 2 20
Thornton 10 1-4 2-2 1 2 1 4
Summers 19 3-9 2-3 5 1 1 9
Kebler 3 1-1 0-0 1 0 0 2
Dahlman 7 2-3 1-1 1 0 0 6
Green 13 4-4 2-2 7 3 0 10
Crandell 2 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 2
Lucious 13 1-3 0-0 1 11 2 3
Herzog 7 1-1 1-2 4 0 1 3
Gray 17 3-4 1-2 8 2 1 7
TEAM 5
Totals 200 44-75 21-32 53 35 14 118

Alcorn St. (60)
Player M FG FT R A F Pt
Reed 24 1-4 2-2 2 1 1 4
Jackson 35 6-17 3-4 6 3 11 15
Ford 18 5-10 1-1 1 0 5 12
Rogers 17 2-4 0-0 1 0 2 5
Williams 19 3-7 2-2 1 0 5 8
Boyd 21 4-8 0-0 2 0 1 12
Hobson 6 0-0 0-0 0 0 1 0
Savannah 8 0-1 0-0 0 0 1 0
Anthony 5 0-1 1-2 1 0 1 1
Jones 7 1-3 0-0 0 0 0 3
Holt 21 0-3 0-2 3 0 4 0
Cage 5 0-3 0-0 0 0 1 0
Blakely 14 0-3 0-0 1 0 5 0
TEAM 8
Totals 200 22-64 9-13 32 4 28 60
3-points goals-MSU 9-23 (Lucas 2-4, Morgan 0-2, Allen 4-6, Thornton 0-3, Summers 1-4, Kebler 1-3, Lucious 1-3), Alcorn St. 7-23 (Reed 0-1, Ford 1-3. Rogers 1-1, Williams 0-1. Boyd 4-7, Anthony 0-1, Jones 1-1. Cage 0-1). Turnovers-MSU 10, Alcorn St. 17 Fouled out-Alcorn St.:Ford, Williams. Halftime score-MSU 60, Alcorn St. 26. A-14759.