MSU didn't lose its exhibition opener Wednesday night to Division II Grand Valley State, but the outcome proved the Spartans have a couple wrinkles to iron out.
Namely, defense and rebounding, two areas head coach Tom Izzo has said MSU must improve on this season.
"The defense was kind of good in the first half," senior guard Kelvin Torbert said. "In the second half, it was a big-time letdown."
Sophomore guard Shannon Brown led the Spartans with 16 points in a 77-62 win against the Lakers before an announced crowd of 14,759 at Breslin Center.
The 15-point margin at the end matched the closest Grand Valley got the entire second half.
"We just kind of played like a team that had a 25-point lead," Izzo said. "To Grand Valley's credit, they didn't play that way."
Grand Valley had plenty to be proud of, despite losing by double digits.
The Lakers outrebounded the Spartans 36-33 and outplayed them in the second half. The Lakers had a 41-33 scoring advantage and shot 50 percent in the second half.
Grand Valley coach Ric Wesley was humble regarding his team's relative success.
"Coach Izzo, he was playing a lot of guys," he said. "I'm sure he took it easy on us. We're happy with the way we played."
Early on, it looked like MSU would make short work of Grand Valley.
The Spartans took a 21-2 lead about nine minutes into the game. Then Grand Valley guard Jerry Wallace hit a three-pointer to get the Lakers' offense on track.
Wallace's bucket sparked a 9-4 Grand Valley run. It was enough to give the Lakers confidence to play MSU closely the rest of the game.
"I guess you could criticize our performance, especially in the second half," freshman point guard Drew Neitzel said. "We didn't play up to our potential. But, like I said, it's only one exhibition game and it's the first time we're really all playing together."
Neitzel scored five points on 2-of-5 shooting with zero assists and three turnovers.
The good news is the Spartans are only one exhibition game into their season. The bad news is inconsistent defense and sloppy rebounding were not the only concerns following the win.
Junior center Paul Davis scored only six points on 1-of-5 shooting in 19 minutes.
"Paul's got to be a better offensive juggernaut than he was tonight," Izzo said.
MSU matched its strong defensive start with accurate shooting. The Spartans shot 50 percent from the field in the first half, including 5-of-6 from three-point range.
That deft shooting touch, however, did not carry into the second half; MSU shot 35 percent after halftime. Instead, it seemed to trade sides, as Grand Valley began hitting its open jump shots.
MSU led by 23 points at halftime but could not significantly build on that lead in the second half, when Grand Valley's confidence on offense seemed to grow.
Freshman center Idong Ibok played three minutes, meaning he won't redshirt this season, barring injury.
The Spartans wrap up their exhibition season against Northern Michigan, Izzo's alma mater, at 4 p.m. Sunday at Breslin.
