MSU head coach Tom Izzo was worried going into Sunday’s season opener against Oakland University, a game which marked the unveiling of the team’s 2000 NCAA championship banner.

“The last time we dropped a banner we got our butts kicked,” Izzo said, referring to the 99-96 loss to Purdue two years ago when the Big Ten championship banner was presented prematurely.

The championship recognition before the game had no effect on the Spartans, who defeated Oakland 97-61, led by sophomore guard Jason Richardson who led all scorers with 25 points.

The Spartans had other reasons to be nervous about playing Oakland since the Grizzlies, a second year Division I team, were coming off Friday’s 97-90 win over Michigan.

Oakland, which beat U-M with its shooting, shot 33.2 percent, only hitting on 19 of 57 field goal attempts. Oakland head coach Greg Kampe said that after Friday’s win over U-M he thought his team could have played much better against MSU.

“For us to compete out here everything is going to have to go our way,” Kampe said. “My team can really shoot (the ball). Fortunately we don’t have to play Michigan State every game.”

Oakland guard Jason Rozycki, who had 21 points against U-M on Friday, was guarded by senior guard Charlie Bell, who held him to three points.

Izzo said people don’t realize how good of a shooting team Oakland is. He also added that even though Bell had an outstanding game on offense, his most important contribution was his defense.

“Charlie Bell had a triple-double, I guess the first since Magic Johnson,” Izzo said. “He really, really deserves credit for one stat you don’t have, and that’s the defense he played on Rozycki. That kid is a heck of a player.”

Bell recorded a triple-double with 13 points, 10 assists and 11 rebounds.

Bell was not the only player to contribute to MSU’s defensive efforts. Izzo said senior guard David Thomas, who was placed in the starting lineup, also played aggressively.

“Usually you start your best defensive team,” Izzo said. “Even though David Thomas was 1 of 6 I thought he brought a lot of energy to the team.”

Freshman guard Marcus Taylor, who started the first two exhibition games, gave MSU a boost off the bench with 16 points and five assists.

Izzo said even though Taylor didn’t start the game, he showed a lot of improvement.

“I thought Marcus stepped up a notch,” he said. “I was pleased that he came off picks better, I thought he pushed the ball better.”

Taylor said he wasn’t disappointed about not starting the game because Izzo knows what is beneficial for the team.

“He knows the best strategy for us to win,” Taylor said. “I tried to come off the bench and give us a spark.”

Taylor, who shot the ball more than he did in the exhibition games, said he was more comfortable getting the ball to his teammates in transition.

Richardson said Taylor is improving his decision-making on fast breaks.

“He’s doing a great job of getting the ball up,” Richardson said. “It’s going to take some time because he’s a freshman but he’s doing a great job playing the point guard role.”

The 6-foot-6-inch guard received a pass from Taylor on the left side of the court and lobbed the ball down the middle of the lane to sophomore forward Al Anagonye for an alley-oop dunk. The play gave MSU a 76-43 lead with 8:00 remaining in the second half.

Izzo said he was pleased with how his team played in transition and he added its rebounding opened up fast breaks.

“Our fast breaks got going because of our rebounding,” he said. “All and all, other than some lapses and mismatchups I was pretty pleased with the effort we gave.

“I thought our guys came to play the Spartan basketball way.”