EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP)—Tom Izzo wasn’t all that happy with Michigan State’s 31-point win on Sunday, knowing his team’s next opponent had just won its season opener by 59.
It didn’t matter that Drew Neitzel scored 17 points and had five assists in a 73-41 win over The Citadel or that Raymar Morgan had 10 points and became just the Spartans’ second freshman to debut with three straight games in double figures.
Freshman Isaiah Dahlman also added 10 points for Michigan State (3-0), which faces Texas on Thursday night in the semifinals of the College Hoops Classic in New York. The Longhorns thumped Alcorn State 103-59 on Thursday, then earned a date with the Spartans by beating Chicago State 92-66 on Friday.
“If we play like this in New York, you guys will have a lot of time to hit the nightlife, because you won’t have to write much,” Izzo said to the media. “We have to improve drastically in the next couple of days.”
Demetrius Nelson had nine points to pace The Citadel (1-1), which left quickly by bus for Iowa City and a Monday night game at Iowa. The Bulldogs shot just 29.4 percent from the field, 13.6 percent from 3-point range.
“I was proud of our guys and their effort,” Bulldogs coach Ed Conroy said. “We’re a first-year program. This was our first road test. And it was against a very good basketball team. Our guys know who the Michigan State Spartans are.”
Izzo wasn’t sure that his players knew that much, especially late in the first half when a lackluster effort on long rebounds and sloppy ballhandling made him realize the games won’t all be as easy as Thursday’s 86-61 win over Youngstown State.
“I have a feeling there are going to be more days like this ahead,” Izzo said. “But I thought we could take a couple of steps forward before we go to New York. We did that Thursday, then took a step-and-a-half back tonight.”
The Spartans scored the first 12 points and held The Citadel scoreless for the first 8:17. The Bulldogs battled back with strips for breakaway layups and drew within 29-21 at halftime.
“They missed a lot of threes (19 of 22 tries), and that meant a lot of long rebounds,” Michigan State’s Goran Suton said of the Citadel’s 16 offensive boards. “We also lost the ball a few times and gave them easy baskets.”
The Spartans responded with a 44-20 edge in second-half scoring, shooting 50 percent after the break to The Citadel’s 24.1 percent.
For the game, Michigan State led 36-29 in rebounds and 16-9 in assists, shot 8-of-17 from 3-point range and made 23 free throws to the Bulldogs’ eight.
“It helps us out to have two point guards on the floor, with me and Travis Walton,” Neitzel said. “But there were a lot of long rebounds tipped out. Our guards have to get four or five rebounds apiece against Texas. I thought we made some strides against Youngstown State. There were a few more negatives in this game.”
