Sophomore guard Lourawls 'Tum Tum' Nairn Jr. attempts a basket despite efforts made by Florida Atlantic forward Jeantal Cylla and forward Matthew Reed, 50, during the first half of the game against Florida Atlantic on Nov. 13, 2015 at Breslin Center. The Spartans defeated the Owls, 82-55.
Tom Izzo and the MSU Spartans opened up their regular season Friday night with an 82-55 victory over the Florida Atlantic Owls. Denzel Valentine was the instigator all night for MSU, scoring 13 points while grabbing eight rebounds and dishing out nine assists. Matt Costello led the Spartans with 15 points, and four Spartans wound up with a double digit tally in the scoring column.
The Owls are under the leadership of former Detroit Pistons head coach Michael Curry, and former Spartan standout and current FAU assistant coach Eric Snow. MSU has now won 31 straight season openers at home, including 16 under Izzo.
MSU doubled up the Owls in the first half, mainly due to a big 18-2 scoring run that was sparked by a Bryn Forbes three-pointer. The second half wasn’t much better for the Owls, as they couldn’t find their shooting touch, quickly ending any hopes to mounting a comeback.
The Spartans held a big advantage on the backboards all game, out-rebounding FAU 53-26 , including 18 offensive rebounds that led to 15 second chance points.
MSU shot 48 percent from the field as a team, while holding Florida Atlantic to just 34 percent. A big reason behind that is the interior defense for MSU, even with Gavin Schilling out with turf toe. MSU accumulated 12 blocks as a team.
Izzo has heralded this year’s squad as one of the most skilled at shooting the basketball. From three point land, MSU went 5-13, good for 38 percent. Bryn Forbes led the way, connecting on three of his four opportunities from long range.
Izzo also stressed how vital free throw shooting was, considering how poorly the team was last year. For all the things MSU did right tonight, free throw shooting was not one of them, as they went a mere 17-28 from the charity stripe, only good for 61 percent. The lone bright spot was Costello, as he finished the night with a perfect 5-5 from the line.
C.J. Turman led the Owls with 15 points on a respectable 7-12 shooting, while also grabbing four rebounds. The Owls were in foul trouble all night, as their leading scorer from half time, Adonis Filer, fouled out with about seven minutes left. The Owls fouled out two total had one other players with four fouls.
