Regardless of how much ESPN wants to compare it to Michigan’s loss to Appalachian State or how bad the Spartans played, their season is far from over. In fact, it still hasn’t even begun.

“It won’t show up on our record, so we’re still 0-0 I guess when it comes to the win-loss column,” senior guard Drew Neitzel said.

“But it was a tough game, we just have to learn some things from it and try to get better.”

What exactly did the Spartans see in Friday’s exhibition game that they need to improve on?

Neitzel shot 3-15 from the floor and 2-11 from beyond the arc — that’s not likely to happen again, so we can cross that off the list.

The freshman guard trio played better than anyone could have expected during their first collegiate action as Chris Allen led the Spartans with 15 points, Durrell Summers scored six points and grabbed seven rebounds and Kalin Lucas was arguably the most impressive Spartan on the floor. Glimpses of freshmen potential? Check.

No MSU post player dominated inside, but head coach Tom Izzo said he was concerned with that beforehand, so we’ll put that under the “what we already knew” file.

Then there are the qualities that Izzo has built the MSU basketball program on — rebounding, defense and hard work — and believe it or not, that’s where the Spartans lost the game. The Lakers out-rebounded the Spartans 44-41, held Neitzel scoreless until 13:46 remaining in the second half and only allowed the Spartans to shoot 37 percent from the field.

As for MSU’s intensity on the court, I’ll leave that analysis up to Neitzel:

“I think some guys played their butts off and some guys didn’t,” he said.

“To play at this level, to wear this uniform, it’s unacceptable not to give 110 percent every time you step on the court. I think some guys take for granted where they’re at, so we have to work some things out and make guys realize how fortunate they are to be in a program like this and perform every night.”

Ouch.

While the Spartans insist no one overlooked the Lakers, who gave them a thrilling exhibition game last year, it was clear that the two teams came out with different agendas.

While the Lakers came to East Lansing to pull off an upset of the Spartans, MSU came into the game to tinker with lineups and teach — which is what exhibition games are for.

While a top 10 team like MSU should never lose to a Division II opponent, regardless of Grand Valley’s Elite Eight run last year and high preseason ranking, the juggling of lineups and timeouts called for coaching are essential in creating a team this early in the season.

Luckily for the Spartans, many mistakes made in Friday’s exhibition can be fixed, and the season is still going to be a good one.

Izzo has proven he can build great defenses, just as he has proven he can make his team go to the glass harder than the other guy. However no coach, regardless of his record, coaching style or personality can make players work hard.

There’s no question the Spartans have the talent, athleticism and heart to live up to the preseason expectations set for them.

They just have to show it on the court.

Cash Kruth can be reached at kruthcas@msu.edu.