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Michigan State Basketball: High-energy Spartans blow out Cleveland State

By Connor Muldowney

EAST LANSING, MI - DECEMBER 21: Jaren Jackson Jr. #2 of the Michigan State Spartans celebrates from the bench during the game against the Long Beach State 49ers at Breslin Center on December 21, 2017 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images)
EAST LANSING, MI - DECEMBER 21: Jaren Jackson Jr. #2 of the Michigan State Spartans celebrates from the bench during the game against the Long Beach State 49ers at Breslin Center on December 21, 2017 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images) /
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Michigan State basketball was coming off Christmas break, but that didn’t slow down the suddenly high-scoring Spartans against Cleveland State.

Even after heading home for a short holiday break, Michigan State didn’t show any signs of fatigue on Friday night, demolishing Cleveland State, 111-61.

Must Read: MSU Basketball: 5 bold predictions vs. Cleveland State

The victory improved the Spartans to 13-1 on the season and happened to be the third straight 100-point game since November 2004 and the 63 points scored in the first half were the most in the Tom Izzo era.

Izzo was worried about the turnover issue heading into the contest, but his team finished with 11, just under the season average of 14.4, but eight of those came in the second half — most notably in the final 10 minutes of the game.

Michigan State now has just one game standing between it and Big Ten action. The Spartans had no trouble with the Vikings and it was thanks to the energy of guys like Josh Langford, Nick Ward, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Miles Bridges. Cassius Winston and Matt McQuaid also scored in double figures.

Ward finished with 22 points and 14 rebounds, leaving the floor to a standing ovation and Langford led all Michigan State scorers with 23. The energy was evident as the Spartans shot a high percentage (65 percent) from the floor and made 15-of-26 shots from 3-point range.

Another major area of dominance for Michigan State was the rebounding battle. Michigan State finished with an astounding 49 to Cleveland State’s 15.

Next: MSU Basketball: Game-by-game predictions for December

The best part of the game? Izzo took the mic after the final buzzer and thanked the big crowd for coming out to support the team when the students aren’t on campus.

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