A hook shot from Derrick Nix? Count it.

Mid-range jumper from Adreian Payne? Drained.

The No. 8 MSU men’s basketball team (20-4 overall, 9-2 Big Ten) made an astounding 53.3 percent of its shots in the opening half to take a 38-24 lead into halftime against No. 8 Michigan (21-3, 8-3).

The urgency of the first ever meeting between the rivals with both program’s ranked in the top-10 appeared to fuel the Spartans early and often, as MSU took the lead 13 seconds in after a Branden Dawson jump shot and never trailed.

Both teams hung neck-and-neck for the opening 10 minutes, with MSU never leading by more than seven points.

A 3-pointer from Harris was answered with one from U-M guard Nik Stauskas.

A layup from guard Keith Appling was followed by another from U-M forward Mitch McGary.

But in the half’s final 10 minutes, things began to change.

An 11-2 run, capped off by a layup from Nix, gave the Spartans their first double-digit lead 31-17 with 4:57 to go in the half.

Nix led the way for the Spartans with 10 first half points, while Harris added nine points on three 3-pointers and Dawson scored eight.

MSU maintained its double-digit margin the rest of the way, with the help of a pair of buckets from freshman forward Matt Costello.