The No. 13 MSU men's basketball team used 29 assists on 35 made shots to defeat the Ferris State Bulldogs, 93-57 in an exhibition Monday night.
Senior guard Bryn Forbes kept his hot shooting going, finishing with 16 points, including 4-of-7 from 3-point range, while senior guard Denzel Valentine's all-around play continued as he finished with 15 points, 7 assists and 7 rebounds.
Continuing the trend of playing with lineups in the early going of the season, head coach Tom Izzo went with Lourawls "Tum Tum" Nairn Jr., Eron Harris, Valentine, Colby Wollenman and Matt Costello as starters.
Things were tight early, as at the 15:51 mark, the Division 2 Bulldogs were sticking in it, keeping the game knotted at 8 a piece.
After that, MSU went on a 17-6 run out of a timeout to take a 25-14 lead with 7:25 to go in the half.
From there, several Spartans got into the action as they extended the lead on Ferris to the 42-23 advantage the currently hold at halftime.
Junior forward Gavin Schilling came off the bench and led the Spartans in scoring with 10 points and 5 rebounds at the break, while Harris added 7 points for MSU.
Ferris State's senior forward Josh Fleming leds the Bulldogs in scoring at the break with 10 points. Fleming would go on to finish with 15 points.
In the second half, MSU continued to pull away, at one point extending their lead to 58-35 at the 14:45 mark.
However, if there was one thing keeping the Bulldogs in the game, it was the 3-point shot. The Spartans struggled to defend it all night long. At one point, the Bulldogs connected on five straight 3-pointers and the Spartan lead had shrunk to 62-50 with just over 11 minutes to play in the game.
Fortunately for MSU, that would be as close as the Bulldogs would get for the remainder of the night, as Ferris State's hot shooting eventually cooled off and the Spartans outscored their opponent 31-7 for the remainder of the game, eventually going on to win, 93-57.
The No. 13 MSU basketball team opens the regular season on Friday night against Florida Atlantic.