Michigan State basketball: Offense wakes up in win over FGCU

Michigan State basketball got off to a slow start, but after a ‘pep talk’ from Tom Izzo, the offense broke out and finished with 106 points and a big win over FGCU.

Tom Izzo wasn’t happy after the game, and it wasn’t exactly from his offense’s performance. It was his defense and the constant rule changes by the NCAA that slow down the game and force officials to call it tight, ruining the flow.

The Hall of Fame head coach didn’t have anything bad to say about the offense, however, as his Spartans totaled 106 points in the 24-point win.

Michigan State carried the momentum over from the second half against Kansas when it accounted for 51 points and out-scored the Jayhawks by nine points. The Spartans scored 59 points in the first half against Florida Gulf Coast and then 47 in the final 20 minutes.

Sure, the defense could have been a little better, allowing 82 points, but Nick Ward, Josh Langford, Cassius Winston and Matt McQuaid more than made up for it.

Ward led all scorers, making up for that ugly opener against Kansas, scoring a career-high 25 points with 10 rebounds, four assists and two blocks. He made 7-of-11 field goals and 11-of-17 free throws. Langford scored 18, Winston 14 and McQuaid 12 to lead the Spartans.

The Spartans shot 53 percent from long-range as a team, but made only 8-of-23 shots from 3-point range, which was the only true negative on the day.

Moreover, the Spartans had 33 assists on 41 made field goals — that’s almost unheard of.

Also impressive was the bench’s play on the offensive end with Aaron Henry scoring nine with three assists, Xavier Tillman added eight and four assists, Marcus Bingham Jr. showed his range with two 3-pointers and Kyle Ahrens added four points.

This team can’t just expect to out-score opponents, though, as the defense must improve going forward with teams like Louisville, UCLA, North Carolina (or Texas) and Florida still left on the non-conference schedule. Still, this is a major turnaround from the first half against Kansas.