No. 2 Michigan State (14-1, 2-0 Big Ten) throttled Savannah State (3-12) for a 108-52 win on Sunday, Dec. 31, at the Breslin Center in the Spartans’ final nonconference matchup of the regular season.
Nick Ward scored 21 points and added 10 rebounds, while Miles Bridges posted 19 points and 21 boards. Cassius Winston added 16 points and 13 assists as Michigan State reached 100 points for the fourth straight game, a program record.
Michigan State led 51-38 at halftime before outscoring the Tigers 57-14 in the second half. The Spartans finished nonconference play with a 32-0 run.
No. 1 Villanova and No. 3 Arizona State suffered losses on Saturday, giving the Spartans a good shot to move to No. 1 in the country when the new Associated Press Top 25 comes out.
Michigan State-Savannah State recap, score
Michigan State-Savannah State basketball: Game time, information
Michigan State and Savannah State play at 12 p.m. ET on Sunday, Dec. 31.
Time: 12 p.m. ET
Date: Sunday, Dec. 31
Location: Breslin Center, East Lansing, Mich.
How can I watch the Michigan State-Savannah State basketball game on TV and online?
Michigan State and Savannah State will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network. You can stream the game on BTN2Go and from your Android or iOS device.
Greg Amsinger and Jon Crispin will call the game.
How can I listen to the Michigan State-Savannah State basketball game on the radio?
Michigan State and Savannah State can be heard over the 38-affiliate Spartan Sports Network, including flagship stations WMMQ-FM (94.9)/WJIM-AM (1240) in Lansing and WJR-AM (760) in Detroit.
Will Tieman and Matt Steigenga will have the call.
Michigan State-Savannah State basketball preview
Michigan State’s past three games against Houston Baptist, Long Beach State and Cleveland State have been confidence boosters going into Big Ten play. The Spartans have scored more than 100 points in each and won by an average of 45.7 points.
Sorry, Savannah State. This one doesn’t promise to be much different. The Tigers enter having lost five games in a row, and only one has come against a Division I team. That was a 101-97 victory over winless Alabama State.
Dexter McClanahan is one to watch. The junior guard averages 13.6 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.6 assists. He takes 59.5 percent of his shots from 3-point range, but he hits only 32 percent of them.
As a team, Savannah State takes more than half of its shots from long range. That matches them up as well as possible against Michigan State, which has been adept at defending 2-pointers. Opponents have hit only 32.8 percent of their shots inside the arc against Michigan State.
If the Spartans play anywhere near the level at which they have been, this should be no contest. All five starters have scored in double figures in each of the past two contests, and junior guard Matt McQuaid has broken out of a slump to hit 10 of his past 18 3-pointers.
