Your Spartans truly took out their frustrations against UMass tonight, winning in convincing fashion to take third place in the Legends Classic. State literally ran away from UMass in the first half, displaying a frequently-dominant transition offense punctuated by a 30-3 run. Perhaps most encouraging is that the three players who struggled the most yesterday -- Chris Allen, Raymar Morgan, and Korie Lucious -- rebounded with strong performances tonight, scoring 18, 17, and 13 points, respectively. State hit 14 of 22 from behind the arc, led by four each from Allen and Kalin Lucas; undoubtedly, the eFG will be quite gaudy for the second night in a row. Only surrendering 11 turnovers in a game which surely had a ton of possessions is another big improvement from the Florida game.
You know it's a one-sided game when the lead is 90% safe with 14 minutes to go . . .
Of course, tonight also marks the ascension of Tom Izzo to the top of MSU's coaching list: his 341st win vaults him over Jud Heathcote. It's a bit of an anticlimax, as the accomplishment would be much sweeter without the bitter taste of last night's game. But, it's nonetheless still a great accomplishment, and congratulations to Mr. Izzo; here's to many, many more.
State wins. Up next: North Carolina.