Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii —
Maurice Ager's two 3-pointers at the start of the second half put MSU up by 11, and the No. 12 Spartans recovered from a slow start to take the first game of the EA Sports Maui Invitational against Chaminade, 89-67.
With the victory, MSU (1-1) faces No. 9 Gonzaga, which won 88-76 against No. 24 Maryland. Tipoff is at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
The Spartans, playing their second game in Hawaii in three days, still dealt with leg cramps Monday, but not to the extent of Saturday's loss against Hawaii. A number of players had to sit out Saturday, including junior guard Shannon Brown, who was taken away by a stretcher.
"Our legs were still a problem," MSU head coach Tom Izzo said. "As we got into the flow of it, I thought they got better — I tried to plan the minutes and rest them, yet I wanted to make sure our shooters got in the rhythm a little bit.
"I still think it was an important win for us," Izzo said. "We would've won by two — I still would've been happy. Nobody else would've been, but I just didn't know what to expect.
"I keep saying I'm the hardest on these guys, but with what they had to endure after the tough loss, we had to go at it a little differently than we normally would."
Despite some poor shot selections, especially beyond the arc, the Silverswords hung with the Spartans throughout the first half. Chaminade led by one with 4:27 left before halftime.
But Brown's five points to close the half, including a jumper at the buzzer, put MSU ahead 40-34, and gave the Spartans the momentum heading into the break.
"We just wanted to come out and keep pounding it in the second half, and never tried to let go," said Ager, who had a game-high 23 points, including 4-of-5 shooting from 3-point range. Brown had 18 points, and junior center Davis added 16 points and 13 rebounds.
The largest lead the Silverswords held was by four at the start of the game.
Chaminade was led by guard Chris Reaves, who scored 18 points, and center Marko Kolaric, who had 15 points.
MSU redshirt freshman forward Marquise Gray provided some jump for the Spartans with two dunks late in the first half, including one where Gray went up to slam in a missed shot by Davis.
Gray, regularly rotated in with junior center Drew Naymick at the power forward spot, and Gray had nine points and grabbed eight rebounds off the bench.
"He's a jumping jack," Ager said. "He gets those rebounds and posts hard — those are game-changing dunks, and you build on it."
